MANAGING DRUG POLICY

If the United States had about 100 columnists like Mike Thomas, we would
already be engaged in a nationwide dialogue about anti-drug policy. In his
Jan. 31 column, Thomas tells how to manage addiction, one of the two causes
of the social damage of drugs and their prohibition. The other cause is greed.

Greed can be managed only by taking the profit out of the illegal drug
trade. With cocaine retailing at $2,500 an ounce that is a tall order. The
only way to do that is to reduce the price. And the only way to do that is
to sell all these substances, along with alcohol and tobacco, in state
liquor stores. Price them high, but not so high that they stimulate an
illegal market. Then use a small part of that revenue to offer free
treatment to all who ask.

John Chase, Palm Harbor