A PERPETUAL WAR

Re: "Folly in Colombia" (editorial, Daily News, Jan. 16).

Your headline says it all. Many Americans understand that Plan Colombia is
typical of U.S. drug policy. And that is a focus on financing aggressive
police and military methods as the primary tools for dealing with America's
very real problems of drug abuse.

Regardless of how many thousands of acres of South American soil we poison,
and no matter how many billions we spend on helicopters and gunships in
Colombia - not to mention SWAT teams and paramilitary police units in our
own cities - not a single drug addict in America is any closer to true
recovery.

America's drug warriors attempt to convince our citizens as well as the
rest of the world that our drug problems are caused by those in other
countries. Until Americans begin to more accurately respond to the root
causes of drug abuse and addiction, we are assured of a perpetual war that
will be carried on both at home and abroad.

STEPHEN HEATH, Drug Policy Forum of Florida, Clearwater