Pubdate: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 Date: 07/11/2000 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Author: James S. Caldwell Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n964/a06.html Re: "The Cartel" (Insight, July 9): Caldwell did a very good job of presenting an overview of the Mexican drug trade. Unfortunately, all of this rhetoric and the entire war on drugs program, which has dragged on for more than two decades, are dealing only with symptoms of the real problem. The Arellano Felix organization is only a group of entrepreneurs going about the business of supplying a product. The drug agents are people trying to put them out of business. Naturally, they are going to resist any interference in their business, whether it be drug agents, newspaper publishers, law-enforcement officers, government officials or anyone else. After all the time and resources we have spent on this war against drugs it should be apparent to a majority of people of average intelligence that the war is being lost. Who among us -- when given the choice of cooperate, quit, or die -- is going to choose the last? If the Arellano Felix brothers were all jailed tomorrow, their replacements would have the business up and running again in a few days. The real problem is not Mexico or Colombia, but the good old United States, whose drug-addicted citizens have created this tremendous, insatiable drug market. Mexico has just elected a new president, Vicente Fox, who will soon have to deal with this problem. What a great and opportune time to drop the bomb that would solve it all: legalization. James S. Caldwell, San Diego