Pubdate: Sat, 29 Oct 2011 Source: Washington Post (DC) Copyright: 2011 The Washington Post Company Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491 Author: David Marchand THE CYCLE OF ILLEGAL DRUGS The Oct. 24 front-page article "Acreage of drugs soars in Mexico" showed once again that the United States' decades-long policy on drugs will never work. Eradication of drug crops and interdiction of drugs entering the United States raise the price of drugs. Raising the price of drugs prompts people to participate in either growing or distributing drugs. It is a never-ending cycle. How many more years must our society suffer before we finally realize that our drug culture is a health problem, not a criminal one? If drugs became available through a health provider, the profit motive would disappear, along with the concomitant crime it spawns. David Marchand Towson - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.