DRUG WAR'S FAILURE

Your Aug. 27th editorial on the disturbing number of Americans behind
bars asks why so many people are breaking the law. With violent
crime rates continuing along a downward trend, the never-ending drug
war is the main reason the United States now has the highest
incarceration rate in the world.

Putting otherwise law-abiding Americans who use illicit drugs behind
bars with hardened criminals is a dangerous proposition. Prisons
transmit violent habits and values rather than reduce them.
Politically popular mandatory minimums have turned many a taxpaying
recreational drug user into a long-term tax burden. At an average
cost of $25,071 per inmate annually, maintaining the world's largest
prison system can hardly be considered fiscally conservative.

Instead of turning potentially productive members of society into
hardened criminals, we should be funding cost-effective drug
treatment. The punitive Nanny State is causing tremendous societal
harm while failing miserably at preventing drug use. Drug policies
modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented
black market in illegal drugs. Unlike legitimate businesses that
sell liquor, illegal drug dealers do not ID for age. So much for
protecting the children.

While U.S. politicians continue to use the drug war's collateral
damage to justify its intensification at home and abroad, European
countries are embracing harm reduction. Harm reduction is based on
the principle that both drug use and drug prohibition have the
potential to cause harm. Given the historical precedent in alcohol
prohibition, harm reduction should be readily understood by Congress.

Ironically, fear of appearing "soft on crime" compels many
politicians to support a punitive drug policy that ultimately fuels
organized crime and violence.

Washington, D.C
Robert Sharpe
Program officer, The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation