News (Media Awareness Project) - US NY: PUB LTE: Can A Bureaucracy Stop Terror? |
| Title: | US NY: PUB LTE: Can A Bureaucracy Stop Terror? |
| Published On: | 2002-06-17 |
| Source: | New York Times (NY) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-23 04:35:57 |
To the Editor:
Re "Restructuring for Security," by Warren Rudman and Gary Hart (Op-Ed,
June 13): If all the disparate agencies in this new Homeland Security
Department - Border Patrol, Customs Service, Coast Guard and so on - are to
focus on fighting terrorists, does this mean we have conceded the war on drugs?
In 1968, we spent $60 million fighting drugs; now we spend upward of $20
billion. Yet drugs are readily available and the street cost of drugs has
remained more or less constant. Possibly, focusing on terrorism will mean
that the government will spend its limited drug money on prevention and
treatment, which even Richard M. Nixon recognized as the only way to win
the war on drugs.
FRED POLVERE
Yonkers, June 13, 2002
Re "Restructuring for Security," by Warren Rudman and Gary Hart (Op-Ed,
June 13): If all the disparate agencies in this new Homeland Security
Department - Border Patrol, Customs Service, Coast Guard and so on - are to
focus on fighting terrorists, does this mean we have conceded the war on drugs?
In 1968, we spent $60 million fighting drugs; now we spend upward of $20
billion. Yet drugs are readily available and the street cost of drugs has
remained more or less constant. Possibly, focusing on terrorism will mean
that the government will spend its limited drug money on prevention and
treatment, which even Richard M. Nixon recognized as the only way to win
the war on drugs.
FRED POLVERE
Yonkers, June 13, 2002
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