STOP THE DRUG WAR

I'm writing about your outstanding July 11 editorial, "The dubious drug
war." If Plan Colombia had exceeded all expectations and eliminated all the
cocaine in Colombia, it would still not have affected the supply of cocaine
- -- or any other drug -- reaching the United States. As long as people want
recreational drugs and will pay a substantial price for them, someone will
produce the drugs and someone else will get them to the buyers.

We cannot keep illegal drugs out of our highest-security prisons, so how
can we expect to keep them out of our country -- with its thousands of
miles of coastline and international border?

KIRK MUSE

Mesa, Ariz