CHILDREN AREN'T THE PROBLEM

With his tough, drug-war rhetoric, Tony Cantu sounds as if he must be
planning to run for political office ("Going soft on narco-traffickers will
hurt our children," Outlook, Mar. 1).

Certification of other countries as allies in the war on drugs is a bad
idea. Third World countries are unable to cope with the power and
corrupting influence of drug money.

Decertification is counterproductive. It is supposed to lead these
countries to just say "no" to the influence of bribes and threats against
their leaders and to do more to stop the multibillion-dollar trade in
illegal drugs -- something they have been unable to accomplish ever before.
Decertification actually harms the relations with other countries and
decreases opportunities for legitimate business, pushing new people to work
in the drug trade.

Blaming other countries for illegal drug use in the United States is an
attempt to escape from reality. No other country would send any drugs to
the United States if the market in this country didn't send tons of dollars
to corrupt their citizens.

No one wants their children to use legal or illegal drugs. But to claim
that $30 billion worth of cocaine is poisoning U.S. children each year is
an attempt to produce an emotional gut reaction rather than an intelligent
decision.

Few children buy cocaine. Children are not a factor in what drives the
illegal drug business. Millions of adult users and the billions of dollars
spent on plentiful, but prohibited substances, are.

Gregg Davis, Houston