TRAVESTY OF DRUG WAR

My thanks to Doug McVay for the excellent article in the Sunday Insight
section describing the travesty of our "war" on drug use and addiction.
The current situation regarding the availability of drugs, particularly
marijuana, is exactly the same as it was for obtaining drinkable
ethanol during Prohibition: Anyone with a little cash can find it in
any place in the country in a very short time.

I, like McVay, have come to the conclusion that the war on drugs, as
we are fighting it, is a terrible waste of time, money and human
resources, and is in fact a greater threat to our general liberties
than the Taliban or any other terrorist group could ever be. Countless
excesses are visited on people by our well-meaning but misdirected
law-enforcement community every day in the name of fighting the drug
"war."

The problem of having a public discussion on the subject of reforming
or modifying any of our drug laws, however, is an immense one for any
elected officeholder, regardless of political persuasion. To even
suggest that our current gulag-building body of laws might possibly
need even just a little modification is to guarantee a loss in the
next election cycle.

My personal solution for ending this terrible political logjam has
been to vote for Libertarian Party candidates whenever possible, as
they are members of the only major political party in this country
that is principled enough to take on this issue in a realistic,
practical way.

And, by the way, I'm not a drug user and have no intentions of ever
becoming one. But I very strongly declare that history has already
proven that locking people up is not the way to solve the problem.

STEPHEN R. BROWN
Casselberry