TREAT DRUG USE AS HEALTH ISSUE AND END COSTLY DRUG WAR

Madison Ald. Judy Olson was right to question the cost-effectiveness of the
never-ending drug war. Instead of wasting billions waging a futile drug war
abroad, we should be funding cost-effective treatment here at home.

The White House proposal to add $25 million in Peruvian counter-narcotics
aid to expand the Clinton administration's $1.3 billion Plan Colombia is a
prime of example of big government throwing good money after bad.

While U.S. politicians continue to use the drug war's collateral damage to
justify its intensification, European countries are embracing harm
reduction. Harm reduction is based on the principle that both drugs and drug
law share the potential to cause harm. Given the historical precedent in
America's disastrous experiment with 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.

It's time to declare peace in the failed drug war and start treating all
substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health problem it is.

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