ANTI-DRUG ADS MISS THE MARK

Have you seen the new full-page newspaper ads from the ONDCP (Office
of National Drug Control Policy)? Or the absurd Super Bowl ads
suggesting that if you buy drugs, you are helping terrorists?

One ad shows a young woman's face, along with text that reads: "Last
week, I washed my car, hung out with a few friends, and helped murder
a family in Colombia." At the bottom, it says: "Drug money helps
support terror. Buy drugs and you could be supporting it too."

They claim that buyers of products are responsible for the bad things
that are done with the profits. They try to capitalize on Sept. 11 and
our hatred of terrorists, and use them to bolster the failing war on
drugs. This is sick and disgusting.

I'd prefer to see an honest ad, perhaps one showing the face of drug
czar John Walters, saying: "This week, I had lunch with the president,
testified before Congress, and helped funnel $40-million in illegal
drug money to groups like the Taliban." At the bottom: "The war on
drugs boosts the price of illegal drugs by as much as 17,000 percent
- -- funneling huge profits to terrorist organizations. If you support
the war on drugs or vote for the politicians who wage it, you're
helping support terrorism."

If the ONDCP was to tell the truth, it would say that the war on drugs
is a price-support system for terrorists and drug pushers, rather than
telling us that consumers bear responsibility for the actions of
everyone who was involved in the manufacture or distribution of
products they use.

HAL DUNN

Wesley Chapel