Fighting the War on Drugs

I have read with close attention everything your paper has published in the past days about the drug problem, particularly what has to do with my country, Colombia, and with my hometown, Medellin.

Your article (Part I, Sept. 9) analyzing the impossibility of controlling drugs at its source has confirmed my point of view, and that of many Colombians also, that, no matter how much our government tries, no matter how many lives we sacrifice, or how much money you send us in planes and arms to fight the drug cartels, there will be no end to this struggle, at least, not until the demand ends.

Will it ever end? This is the big question the world is now asking. The complexity of the problem is undeniable.

At some time in the future the world will realize that by outlawing cocaine we have created an evil greater than the drug, and it is the corruption and immorality which have no respect for human life. Colombia is a clear example of this. We are not fighting drug addiction so much as corruption by drug traffickers at levels never before seen in our country.

It is not that we don’t have problems of drug addiction in our country or that we are insensitive to the dimension of the problem in the United States and in other countries of the world. It is just that no other country’s legal system and survival as a civilized nation have been threatened as has been the case of Colombia.

Wars are senseless, but people seem to get into them without realizing how senseless they can be and always thinking that it will be only for a few months. But this is a different situation. Even President Bush speaks of years, and deep down everybody knows that as long as people want to use cocaine, there will never be an end to this.

So, if we will end up accepting that people will get cocaine somehow, let us accept it now before my country is torn apart. Let us all dedicate our efforts to what peace can offer: the opportunity to prevent its use by giving a better life to those who are more susceptible to become addicts and help to those who already are.

DIANA JARAMILLO

Northridge