I strongly object to the content and the tone of Jeff Vogelsang’s Sept. 26 column. His version of the “reality of drug use” is a fantasy, and his solution to the drug problem does not work.

Jeff mentions the “casual user” of drugs and asserts that they aren’t really criminals—they don’t do any harm to anyone. This is a myth.

The sad fact of drug abuse is that there are no “casual users” of recreational drugs. A person either uses drugs, or doesn’t use drugs—this is the only distiction that exists.

Tell me Jeff, do you know anyone who has used a drug “just once—to try it”? I’m sure all of us know someone who can honestly make that claim. But think now, how many of us know anyone who has used a drug “just twice”? I submit that no such creature exists.

How can we end the scourge that is poisoning our country? Jeff thinks we should “waste smugglers instead of our money” by spending more on eliminating the supply of drugs. This is exactly what the federal government has been doing for several years now, and it is an approach that does not work, and will never work.

Anyone who has taken the most basic economics course could tell you that if you decrease the supply of a product (drugs), demand is not affected—the only effect is to make the product (drugs) more expensive. I challenge all who read this letter to demonstrate that drug supply interdiction is a successful policy.

Fortunately, Congress has recognized its failure—finally—and is reacting. The new drug bill is not a cure-all; I agree with Jeff that the bill contains a lot of political puffery. However, it is definitely a step in the right direction.

No law can eliminate drug addiction, but any drug law should make it much more difficult to become exposed to drugs. Drug addiction is a very real and a very serious problem in the U.S., and by urging the acceptance of the “casual” drug_user Jeff contributes to the exacerbation of the problem.

Jeff Vogelsang intimates that neither he nor anyone in his experiences would be deterred from using drugs by the penalties that the government is considering. I challenge Jeff to talk to some people who use drugs or have used drugs in the past. I think he’ll find that someone who is willing to risk prison, a $10,000 fine, and loss of federal benefits to smoke a bowl or snort some coke is not a casual user __ they are a drug addict.

Christopher A. Carson

Graduate Student

College of Business