MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE

To the editor: Responding to David Hackett's column of Aug. 4, the Monroe
County Drug Court is definitely a step in the right direction, but an
arrest should not be a necessary prerequisite for drug treatment.
Politicians are going to have to tone down the tough-on-drugs rhetoric.
Would alcoholics seek help for their illness if doing so were tantamount to
confessing to criminal activity?

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

The United States recently earned the dubious distinction of having the
highest incarceration rate in the world, with drug offenses accounting for
the majority of federal incarcerations. This is big government at its
worst. At an average cost of $25,071 per inmate annually, maintaining the
world's largest prison system can hardly be considered fiscally conservative.

The threat of prison that coerced treatment relies upon can backfire when
it's actually put to use. Prisons transmit violent habits and values rather
than reduce them. Most drug offenders are eventually released, with dismal
job prospects due to criminal records. Turning non-violent drug offenders
into hardened criminals is a senseless waste of tax dollars. 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 M.P.A., program officer Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation