PURSUE HARM REDUCTION

Kudos to The Tampa Tribune for an excellent Aug. 27 editorial on racial
profiling.

U.S. government statistics reveal that the drug war is being waged in a
racist manner throughout the nation. Although only 15 percent of the
nation's drug users are black, blacks account for 37 percent of those
arrested for drug violations, more than 42 percent of those in federal
prisons for drug violations, and almost 60 percent of those in state
prisons for drug felonies.

Racially disproportionate incarceration rates are not the only cause for
alarm. Prisons transmit violent habits and values rather than reduce them.

Rather than waste scarce resources turning nonviolent drug offenders into
hardened criminals, we should be funding cost-effective treatment. Alcohol
and tobacco are by far the two deadliest drugs, yet politicians do not make
it their business to actively destroy the lives of drinkers and smokers.

It's time to begin pursuing harm reduction policies that acknowledge the
negative consequences of both drug use and drug prohibition.

ROBERT SHARPE
Washington, D.C.
The writer is program officer for The Lindesmith Center - Drug Policy
Foundation