WAR AGAINST DRUGS FOUGHT AGGRESSIVELY

In a Nov. 12 letter to the editor, the writer asserts that the teams of
military and intelligence personnel should make easy work of the drug
scourge that affects the world.

He further claims this industry kills more people each day than the Sept.
11 terrorist attack, and implies the war against the drug trade is
ineffective because we haven't tried hard enough.

Sadly, the writer shows a complete lack of understanding of the most basic
facts about illicit drug use and drug policy.

Over the past century, this country has been fighting the drug issue, and
fighting it hard. Prison populations have grown several fold since the
early '70s, with drug offenses comprising a majority of those sentenced.
Drug seizures have escalated, but even the DEA admits that at best, figures
represent 10 percent of all drug traffic at any time. When drug kingpins
fall at any level in the power structure, frustrated law officials admit
many others await their turn.

An honest use of intelligence, as the writer promotes, would begin with a
review of the most basic information on the topic. Illicit drug deaths
account for approximately 4,500 people per year. Alcohol and tobacco kill
about a half million annually, yet few recommend taking a criminal approach
to these.

Every major study of drug policy has concluded that a non-criminal approach
be taken to currently illicit drugs. A review of such information can be
found at the Drug Reform Coordination Network's online library:
http://www.druglibrary.org.

John M. Koons
Goleta