POLICY A FAILURE

I hate to ruin letter writer Susan Gandara's admiration of the new "Drugs =
Terror" ads but here goes:

1. The only drug strongly associated with "heinous and violent crimes" is
alcohol. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, almost 40 percent of
violent crimes involve alcohol, as do 40 percent of fatal auto accidents.
Also, about four in 10 criminal offenders say they were using alcohol at
the time of their offense.

2. Speaking of heinous crimes, it is our drug warriors who killed an
innocent teenager in Redford, Texas. Also, the U.S. funds paramilitary
groups who torture and murder innocent people.

3. Terrorists and other criminals don't earn money from "drugs," or they'd
be making billions from Prozac, cigarettes, and beer. They make money from
huge black-market profits, which are the inevitable result of outlawing
once-legal substances that millions of people want.

It's the drug war, not drugs, that creates and sustains criminals.

4. As far as kids and positive influences, all my 9-year-old could talk
about after the Super Bowl was how funny some of the beer commercials were.

No wonder beer is far and away the "gateway drug" for our nation's youth.

Mark Mainwaring, West El Paso