PROMOTING TREATMENT WAY TO WIN DRUG WAR

When evaluating statewide drug courts ("Drug Court Program Hits Snags,"
Sept. 22), I hope that Mississippi legislators take into account the
manner in which law enforcement's involvement in substance abuse
discourages treatment.

In order for drug treatment to be truly effective -- and not
necessarily preceded by an arrest -- policymakers are going to have to
tone down the zero-tolerance rhetoric of the drug war.

Tough-on-drugs attitudes discourage the type of honest discussion
necessary to facilitate treatment.

Driving illicit drug addiction underground is counterproductive and
only compounds the problem.

Would alcoholics seek treatment if doing so was tantamount to
confessing to criminal activity?

Likewise, would putting every incorrigible alcoholic behind bars and
saddling them with criminal records be cost-effective?

Increased treatment options like drug courts are a step in the right
direction, but until peace is declared in the failed drug war the
success of treatment will be severely limited.

Robert Sharpe, Students for Sensible Drug Policy
George Washington University, Washington, D.C.