THE REAL ENEMY

During the Super Bowl, the Office of National Drug Control Policy ran two
television ads that equated purchasing illegal drugs to supporting
terrorism. Sadly, the inflated profits from illegal drugs do fund civil
wars, terrorism and outlaw regimes worldwide, yet the problem is
prohibition itself and not the use of those drugs. In the 1920s, domestic
terrorism was the result of the prohibition on alcohol, one of the world's
most popular drugs. Yet on Sunday, Budweiser spent millions of dollars
promoting its product. Clearly, the alcohol itself was not at fault, nor is
the football fan who enjoys a cold beer.

Criminalizing a product people want causes price and profit to increase
dramatically and draws in the criminal element that is willing to fight and
kill to protect market share. The U.S. government should recognize that the
freedom to control one's own consciousness is a fundamental right.

By continuing the war on (some) drugs it does just what it accuses the pot
smoker or heroin addict of doing: financially supporting terrorism.

WILEY LONG III, Fort Collins