Pubdate: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 Date: 09/14/1998 Source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (TX) Author: Larry Nickerson What is happening today in the drug war reminds me of the Pied Piper of Hamelin fable in which the children were stolen because city authorities dealt treacherously. Today the treacherous dealing has been with the truth, and it has fostered an environment in which an untold number of drug dealers have easy access to the children, and some children are returning in body bags. Why are the Dutch so much more successful than we are in controlling drugs? Is it because they have decriminalized marijuana and made needle exchange and drug treatment widely available? Their rate of incarceration is `one ninth,' and their rate of enforcement expenditure `one third,' that of the United States, yet in every measurement of illegal drugs they are significantly better. Why are Britain and other countries that follow the U.S. model of drug war drowning in drugs? Why are Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand pulling away from our lead? Could we be wrong? Larry Nickerson Fort Worth