In response to the Oct. 24 article "AMA calls for cease-fire in
drug war," doctors are not the enemy in the war on drugs --
ignorance and hypocrisy are. Fortunately, organizations and
individual scientists, physicians and community leaders are
calling for open discussion of drug policies in practical terms.
A former American Medical Association president, Dr. Lonnie
Bristow, stated: "The current criminal-justice-driven approach is
not reducing, let alone controlling, drug abuse in America."

Bristow is a member of Physician Leadership on National Drug
Policy. Similar organizations are forming in professional circles
in Texas.

The Drug Policy Forum of Texas is one such organization that
provides a forum where alternatives to the war on drugs can be
discussed by academicians, policy analysts, public office holders
and other interested citizens. Treating Washington's $40 billion
a year addiction to the drug war with alternative policies offers
a promising prognosis.

John Wilson
Waco