WHO'S REALLY PROFITING

AUTHOR SANHO TREE ("The War at Home") clearly articulates the failure of
the so-called "war on drugs" from the perspective of the drug user and the
drug supplier. But the drug suppliers and distributors are not the only
groups reaping profits from our misguided drug war. Let's not forget the
DEA and a vast array of other federal, state, and local law enforcement
agencies and bureaucracies that profit from the huge budgets devoted to
this effort.

Let's also not forget the vast police powers that have been granted to
these agencies. Many of our once-cherished protections against illegal
search and seizure have been set aside in the prosecution of this so-called
war. About the only group that has not profited from this massive flow of
dollars is the drug users who have seen budgets for drug treatment at every
level cut again and again to levels that have left treatment centers
struggling for survival.

Delwin Fandrich

Hoquiam, Washington