To the Editor:

The United States will make a serious error if, as President Clinton proposes, it spends $1.3 billion to help fight the narcotics trade in Colombia ( news article, Jan.  12 ).

These dollars will filter down into the private bank accounts of political hacks there.  It would be wiser to spend the money on efforts to prevent drugs from entering the United States.

When will it become clear that the demand for drugs in the United States is the real reason for drug trafficking? Sending money to Colombia has historically been a failure, and there is no prospect of success in the future.

Norman E.  Mann, San Diego, Jan.  12, 2000