TREATMENT, NOT POLICING, WOULD REDUCE DRUG USE

President Bush's recent proposals would cut law enforcement budgets,
including several drug task forces. To this I say, "Good." The reason is
simple. Enforcement and incarceration have never proven too successful in
reducing drug use. The money that is saved from these cuts should instead
go toward treatment and harm reduction -- two strategies that have been
proven more cost-effective than policing ever could.

Ari Elias-Bachrach, St. Louis