MILITARY APPROACH WON'T STOP DRUG FLOW

G. Jefferson Price III has good reason to question the U.S. drug war
in Colombia ("Time to confront the truth about another U.S. war,"
Opinion Commentary, Dec. 14). Plan Colombia could very well spread
both coca production and civil war throughout South America. U.S. tax
dollars would be better spent addressing the socioeconomic causes of
civil strife in Colombia rather than applying overwhelming military
force to attack the symptoms.

We're not doing the Colombian people any favors by funding a civil
war, nor are Americans being protected from drugs. Destroy the
Colombian coca crop and production will boom in Peru, Bolivia and
Ecuador. Destroy every last plant in South America and domestic
methamphetamine production will increase to meet the demand for
cocaine-like drugs. The self-professed champions of the free market
in the Bush administration are seemingly incapable of applying basic
economic principles to drug policy. Instead of wasting scarce
resources waging a futile supply-side drug war abroad, we should be
funding cost-effective drug treatment here at home.

Robert Sharpe, Washington

The writer is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy.