Pubdate: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 Source: Washington Post (DC) Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company Contact: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071 Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Author: Bill Piper Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n259/a03.html DRUG TRAFFIC: DEMAND, NOT SUPPLY Re: "Sticking With Colombia" [editorial, Feb. 13]: The Post is correct that the United States should stick with Colombia. However, the current plan of aerial spraying and military intervention will be ineffective at best and counterproductive at worst. In contrast, six of Colombia's governors have developed a plan to promote land ownership, to help Colombian farmers develop new markets for traditional products (such as bananas and coffee) and to generally regain control of Colombia through other benign reforms. Decades of scientific evidence have shown that source-country eradication efforts have no significant effect on drug use in the United States. Basic economics dictates that supply will always exist to meet demand. A major study conducted for the Office of National Drug Control Policy by the RAND Corporation found that drug treatment is 23 times more effective than eradication in reducing the use of cocaine in the United States. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently told a Senate committee that our country would be better off spending resources on reducing demand at home than on supply-side schemes abroad. President Bush should heed the advice of his defense secretary and think twice before following in Clinton's footsteps into the Colombia quagmire. Bill Piper, Washington - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D