DATA SHOW WAR ON DRUGS FAILING AS COCAINE GETS CHEAPER, PURER

MEXICO CITY // The United States and its Latin American allies are
losing a major battle in the war on drugs, according to indicators
showing that cocaine prices dipped for most of 2006 and American users
were getting more bang for their buck.

Despite billions of dollars in U.S. anti-drug spending and record
seizures, statistics recently released by the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy suggest that cocaine is as available as
ever.

Cocaine users and lawmen care about price and purity. Authorities work
to choke off supply, driving up cost and damping street sales. Addicts
want better coke at cheaper prices.

In 2005, John Walters, head of the drug policy office, made headlines
reporting a spike in cocaine prices and falling levels of quality.
Those figures indicated that U.S. drug control policies were working,
he said.

But the new numbers issued by his office indicate that any victory was
short-lived. Retail cocaine prices fell more than 12 percent between
January and October of 2006 while average purity of cocaine seized by
authorities rose from about 68 percent to 73 percent. The office
released the figures in a letter to Iowa Sen. Charles E. Grassley.