DON'T ADOPT US DRUG POLICIES

I am writing about your thoughtful editorial, "WAR ON DRUGS" (3-10-02). I
strongly urge Korea not to adopt U. S. "War on Drugs" policies. It has
been a total disaster for the United States.

The net result of the U. S. war on (politically selected) drugs is that the
former "Land of the Free" has more prisoners than any other country in
history. With fewer than 5% of the world's population, the U. S. now has
greater than 25% of the world's prisoners. Thanks primarily to our
counter-productive war on certain drugs.

Almost all so-called "drug related" crime is actually drug prohibition
caused crime. When pure Bayer heroin was legally available in local U. S.
pharmacies, "drug-related" crime and drug dealers did not exist. And deaths
from drug overdoses were very rare.

The Korean murder and other violent crime rates are a small fraction of U.
S. crime rates. That will soon change if Korea adopts the U. S. drug policies.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, AZ, U. S. A.

Thank you for considering this letter for publication.