Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2001 00:16:44 -0500 (EST)
Message-Id: <200102080516.AAA23943@mattababy.mit.edu>
From: belmonte@mit.edu (Matthew Belmonte)
To: john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov
Subject: support S. 219

Dear Senator Kerry

I hope that you'll support S. 219, introduced by Christopher Dodd.  This bill
would diminish the role of State Department certification of Latin American
nations based on their compliance with the United States one-sided,
militaristic drug control strategy.  For the past decade and a half, Latin
American governments have been pressured into accepting US policies for fear
of losing US aid, and US support in the IMF.

Drug abuse is a public health problem, not a military problem, and it should be
addressed with domestic solutions that focus on public health issues, not by
forcing US military strategies on sovereign states.  By allowing alternatives
to certification, S. 219 would take a first step towards that objective.