Pubdate: Sun, 24 Apr 2005 Source: Monitor, The (McAllen, TX) Copyright: 2005 The Monitor Contact: http://www.themonitor.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1250 Author: Kirk Muse Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n609.a08.html OUR WAR ON DRUGS IS NOT WORKING To the editor: I'm writing about your outstanding editorial: "Nothing to show: U. S. anti-drug policy fails in Colombia" (April 12). I'd like to add that it's not just in Colombia that our drug policy has failed. In the past 36 years, we have completely wasted about $1 trillion attempting to nullify the immutable law of supply and demand with our so-called war on drugs. The net result: Drugs are just as available today as they were in 1969. In 1969, crack cocaine didn't exist. It does today. In 1969, methamphetamine use was not at epidemic levels throughout the nation. It is today. In 1969, the United States was not the most incarcerated nation on the planet and in the history of human civilization. We are today - thanks mostly to our counterproductive war on drugs. Even though we in the U.S. have fewer than 5 percent of the world's population, we have more then 25 percent of the world's prisoners. In other words, one out of every four prisoners in the world is locked in an American jail or prison. What message does this send to the rest of the world? Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin