DRUG WAR SHOULD TAKE A NEW ROUTE

To The Editor: In her Jan. 21 column on corruption in Mexico, Susan Hanley
Lane referenced Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda extensively and
asked if he has anything to say about drug-related corruption.

Indeed he does. Castaneda has long been a critic of U.S. drug policies
modeled after alcohol prohibition.

In a September 1999 Newsweek column, Castaneda asked "(w)hat is the purpose
of investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the fight against drugs,
plunging countries into civil war, strengthening guerilla groups and
unleashing enormous violence and corruption upon entire societies, if
American leaders can simply brush off questions about drug use in their
youth?"

Castaneda's views may be influencing Mexican President Vicente Fox. Last
March, President Fox caused quite a stir by agreeing with a top Mexican
police official that regulation may be the only way to resolve the drug
problem. Instead of providing international drug cartels with price supports
courtesy of a $50 billion war on some drugs, we should be taxing and
regulating the sale of marijuana to adults.

There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting
children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of
marijuana use and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal
records. What's really needed is a regulated market with enforceable age
controls. Right now kids have an easier time buying pot than beer.

More disturbing is the manner in which marijuana's black market status
exposes users to sellers of hard drugs. Marijuana may be relatively harmless
compared to legal alcohol -- the plant has never been shown to cause an
overdose death -- but marijuana prohibition is deadly.

As long as marijuana distribution remains in the hands of organized crime,
consumers will continue to come into contact with hard drugs like cocaine.

Robert Sharpe

Washington, D.C.