Assessing the War on Drugs

* Based on media coverage I can understand how Bill Boyarsky (Nov. 19) would have the impression that the “War on Drugs” has become routine and seems to be dragging on and on, but for the professionals working on the treatment end of this “war,” nothing could be further from the truth.

Every day, we see the devastation caused to individuals and their families by drug use. Each story is unique and interesting when seen through the perspective of recovery. No matter how bad things have gotten they get better when drug use stops.

Without taking away from the importance of enforcement in the war on drugs, and without getting into the controversy over the legalization of drug use, more attention should be paid by the media to the amazing efforts made daily by people deciding to save their own lives through recovery.

The alcohol and drug program providers in L.A. County have taken more than 15% in cuts in the last year, while demand for services has continued to rise. Perhaps more focus on treatment efforts would stop further erosion of these limited resources.

JOHN L. BROWN

Executive Director

Los Angeles Centers

for Alcohol & Drug Abuse

* There is an answer. A tough, controversial answer, and an answer that would eliminate the majority of the drug use in our land. The answer is mandatory drug testing.

If you want a job, drug testing. If you want a financial loan, drug testing. If you want a driver’s license, drug testing. If you want insurance, drug testing.

JACK KRAVITZ

Los Angeles

* Everybody knows how wasteful it is to spend millions of dollars prosecuting drug dealers, no matter how small or how big they are. And what a bigger waste it is to keep sending billions to drug-exporting countries under the pretext of this fallacious war. It’s no secret that much of that money ends up paying for the protection of the same drug lords that the U.S. government is supposedly fighting.

If the federal government really wants to fight illegal drugs, the war must be fought not on the international front, but at home. More specifically, in affluent suburbia, where there’s enough money to be spent on drugs.

And let’s stop fooling ourselves: Drugs are not the fault only of those mostly ethnic minority youths and small-time drug pushers that are shown so often by the media. It’s middle- and upper-class America that makes drugs so profitable and it must be held accountable for it. Unless drug users are penalized as harshly as drug dealers, there will always be someone in Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico or anywhere else willing cash in on that demand.

ALBERTO HAUFFEN

Highland