Pubdate: Sun, 07 Jul 2002
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Authors: Paul D. Davis, John Paris
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1144/a06.html

RE-ENGINEERING THE DRUG BUSINESS

As Matthew Brzezinski's article (June 23) makes clear, the reason illegal 
drugs cost so much is that they're illegal. And the cost to the buyer 
doesn't include the costs involved in keeping them illegal. It's the 
taxpayer who foots the bill for the border patrols, police narcotics squads 
and the court and prison employees directly involved in the enforcement of 
our drug laws -- and for the new prisons to accommodate the growing numbers 
of convicted dealers and users.

It appears that those who want drugs, illegal or not, have little problem 
in obtaining them. So why not make things easier for all concerned, and 
much less expensive, by abandoning the illusion that we can stop or even 
diminish drug use by declaring it illegal?

Paul D. Davis, Montclair, N.J.

Our liberating Afghanistan has allowed that country to go back into the 
cultivation of poppy. Shouldn't we be providing immediate farm aid to allow 
for the profitable cultivation of alternative crops? Certainly, this would 
be one of the best weapons in the war on heroin.

John Paris, Atlanta
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