It was astonishing and mildly heartening to read John J. DiIulio Jr.'s "Two Million Prisoners Are Enough" (editorial page, March 12). Astonishing because it seems possible that the Journal's editorial board (which has in the past shown its approval of Mr. DiIulio's research) is beginning to see the light at the end of the drug war tunnel--namely, that after three decades and hundreds of billions of dollars, the war is not only lost, but, as Milton Friedman says, immoral; and that the "benefits" to society as a whole and families in particular for throwing non-violent drug offenders into jail don't benefit anyone except lawyers and DEA employees, and are infinitely more harmful than the effects of, say, smoking a joint.

Yes, get rid of mandatory-minimum sentences and release drug-only offenders; but also decriminalize the taking of drugs, and when there are problems of abuse, let families, churches, support groups and the medical community attend to that issue.

Steven R. Hurlburt Atlanta

[end]