LETTERS: INCLUDE ALCOHOL IN THE WAR ON DRUGS

To the editor:

According to White House drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey, "underage drinking is the single biggest drug problem among adolescents and is intimately linked to the use of illegal drugs." In fact, alcohol kills six times more young people in this country than all other drugs combined, and is the primary gateway to illicit drug use.

However, the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy and Congress have excluded underage drinking from the $195 million National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. Meanwhile, the alcohol industry spends over $1 billion per year on marketing and promotion. This situation provides another example of why we are losing the war on drugs in this country. Just as NATO commanders wisely chose the Serbian air defenses as their primary target, so should our national drug-control policy aggressively target alcohol.

Fortunately, the House Appropriations Committee, on which U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson serves, is currently debating an amendment that would strongly encourage General McCaffrey to include alcohol in the media campaign.

JIM MAGINEL

Community 2000 Prevention Resource Center

Southeast Missouri State University

Cape Girardeau