WHOSE MONEY BEHIND WAR?

I read with interest Dave Fratello's "War on Dissent" [Number 27, Summer 1995] . The article states that $79,000 of federal funds went to the American Cities Against Drugs conference, while "private sources and registration covered the remainder of conference costs." What were the "private sources?" And are the "activists" of Drug Watch International just nice moms and dads paying their dues, or do they have corporate sponsors?

DPF is right to concentrate on the positive message of reasonable alternatives to the drug war, but it would help to identify the money sources behind the prohibitionists. Most political policies have corn- mercial backers, and the drug war is no exception. Popularity with the common folks is seldom enough to drive our politicians to, such vicious behavior.

Dr. Gordon Blaha Paxton, Illinois

TOO FEW AMERICANS

Please, please, please: check your numbers in the future.

l am referring to "The Drug Index" in the Summer 1995 edition of The Drug Policy Letter.

Item 11 reads: "Percent (and number) of U.S. population reporting any illegal drug use in 1993: 12 (15.5 million) ." I believe the U.S. population is in the neighborhood of 250 million; 12 percent of that would be 30 million.

Likewise, item 12 reads: "Percent (and number) of U.S. population under some form of correctional supervision in 1994: 2.7 (5.1 million)." Again, 2.7 percent of a population of 250 million would be 6.75 million.

Erwin Vogel
Gaithersburg, Maryland

EDITORS' NOTE:

Thank you for calling attention to this important point.

Both Drug Index items are drawn from partial surveys of the U.S. population. Item 11's survey polled only the "U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized population 12-years old and older." Item 12's survey was limited to the U.S. adult population.

Both Drug Index items should have noted these limitations. We apologize for any confusion.