Sen. Wilson and the War on Drugs

Shame on you. Your editorial “Good Cause, Wrong Target” (April 20) closes with the chastising sentence, “The truth that no one--not the White House, not Congress, not ordinary citizens--wants to face is that the United States is awash in drugs and that fresh ideas for combating drugs are unlikely to be generated in the heat of election-year politics.”

While the Times has published letters and articles urging consideration of decriminalizing and government control of drugs, its editorial staff has cravenly refused to take a stand on this proposal. The editorial admits stiffer fines and sentences, more police and jails, added anti-drug propaganda and education have not had, nor will have, any deterrent value. Yet like the cowards in the White House, Congress and among citizens, The Times sticks its head in the sand.

Face it! Drug abuse will never be eradicated. Drug-related crime, however, would all but disappear if drugs were dispensed to registered users at nominal costs through a government monopoly. Is there any other workable answer?

JOE J. KOVACH

Pasadena