BEAT COCAINE BY TAKING OUT PROFIT

In his letter of March 30, the writer asks, "Will the money from the
sale of [Afghanistan-made] heroin support the drug war in Colombia?"

The answer is no.

The revenue from Afghanistan heroin will come mostly from Europe, and
will recirculate primarily in that hemisphere.

The money for the war in Colombia will come from us.
But that is not the point.

We will never defeat Colombian cocaine as long as it sells here on the
street for $2,500 per ounce. And if it is driven out of Colombia,
non-Colombians will reap the
profits. The only way to defeat cocaine is to take the profit out.

The $1 billion President Bush is adding to the Colombian war should be
granted instead to states willing to set up state cocaine stores
modeled on Pennsylvania's state liquor stores.

Then price the stuff to undercut the street, and use a small part of
that huge revenue stream to offer free drug treatment to all who ask.

JOHN CHASE
Palm Harbor