BATTLING DRUGS IS IMPORTANT

To the editor:

I have lived in the Rio Grande Valley for 15 years. Since I have lived
here, I have been under the premonition that the U.S./Mexico border, as
well as all international borders in the United States, shared a primary
concern: keeping illegal substances out of the United States.

When George Bush Sr. was our president, he recognized and understood the
need to declare a "War on Drugs." However, since the Sept. 11 tragedies,
our country has demanded a "War on Terrorism." While I agree that keeping
terrorists out of the U.S. is imperative for the Border Patrol, I am deeply
troubled the "War on Drugs" has been diluted and drug trafficking is not
considered a matter of national security.

Perhaps residing in the Rio Grande Valley for 15 years, not more than 10
miles from an international border where thousands upon thousands of pounds
of drugs are confiscated each year, makes me more apt to be troubled by
this fact. However, no matter where a U.S. citizen might live, it is even
more troublesome that millions of children, teenagers and adults, living
much further from an international border where drugs might be more
accessible, die each year due to a drug-related cause, and even more
citizens are addicted to an illegal substance but have not yet reaped such
grave consequences.

Former President Bush obviously understood the great impact that drugs can
have, not only on a family, but on an entire community and country when he
declared the "War on Drugs." While I do not doubt that George W. Bush
probably shares the same concern, it is essential that the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11 not cloud our consciousness to the ever- present terror
of drugs. The "War on Terror" and the "War on Drugs" should share the top
priority.

Stephanie Duda, Mission