THE WAR ON DRUGS

Don Bartletti’s photographs and Alan Weisman’s story (“The Drug Lords Vs. the Tarahumara,” Jan. 9) were compelling--and they also support rethinking the ravaging problem of drugs. Yes, let’s legalize ‘em, regulate ‘em and tax the bejesus out of ‘em. The Tarahumaras will get their land, and their peace back, and so too might America’s cities.

PATRESHIA TKACH

Santa Monica

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What is happening to the Tarahumara Indians is the result of the U.S. drug policy. The drug war is no more successful than Prohibition was, and the anti-drug laws are as out-of-date as the anti-abortion laws in place in some states. Control of my body and what I do to it should be a constitutional right.

ROGER R. HENSEL

San Pedro

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Weisman’s piece notes that advocates of drug legalization, while citing the example of Holland, say that decriminalization does not cause a surge in addiction, any more than ending Prohibition increased alcoholism. Having watched the repeal of the Volsted Act, I question this. The rise in consumption of alcohol and its abuse, and the misery and tragedy that followed the repeal, have been so obvious that I wonder how anyone can make such a declaration.

JANE H. BAILEY

Morro Bay