RE: PUTIN URGES ACTION AGAINST DRUGS

I'm writing about: "Putin Urges Action Against Drugs" (9-5-02). It appears
that Russia is about to follow the path of The United States in its battle
against drugs.

Don't do it. The U. S. drug policy has been an absolute total
disaster. The U. S. has increased its drug enforcement budget by a
whopping 29,500 percent in the past 32 years.

The net result: anybody in the U. S. that wants drugs can still get
them--just as easily as in 1969.

No matter how much money we throw at the problem, we cannot nullify the
basic economic law of supply and demand. As long as people want drugs and
are willing to pay a substantial price for them, somebody will produce the
drugs and somebody will get the drugs to the willing buyers. Guaranteed.

My advice to Russia is to carefully observe U. S. drug policy and then do
the opposite. What we are doing isn't working.

Kirk Muse, Mesa, AZ, U. S. A.