Pubdate: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 Source: Washington Post (DC) Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company Contact: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071 Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Author: Richard D. Bonnette Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n098/a09.html FIGHTING DRUG USE -- AND WINNING George Will and Donald Rumsfeld are absolutely correct when they say America's drug problem is overwhelmingly one of demand ["The Real Enemy in the Drug War," op-ed, Jan. 18]. While largely unrecognized, remarkable progress has been made in this area. Despite lower prices and widespread availability, the number of users of illegal drugs in America has dropped by 8.5 million since 1985 -- a drop of 36 percent. The number of regular cocaine users is down by 4 million. Further, teen drug use in America is down significantly since 1997, and greatly improved teenage anti-drug attitudes suggest the possibility of even greater declines to come in drug use. If we're going to improve on our efforts to deal with the drug problem, common sense suggests we should focus on what has gone right so that we may learn from our success. Richard D. Bonnette, President and CEO, Partnership for a Drug-Free America, New York - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D