DRUG PROHIBITION RESPONSIBLE FOR CRIME, CORRUPTION, OVERDOSES

To the Editor:

Kudos to Daniel Brody for an excellent column on the societal harm caused
by the
war on some drugs ("Criminalization of drugs causes more harm than good," April
12). The crime, corruption, and overdose deaths attributed to illegal drugs
are all
direct results of drug prohibition. With Prohibition repealed, alcohol
producers no
longer gun each down in drive-by shootings, nor do consumers go blind drinking
unregulated bathtub gin. Attempts to limit thesupply of illegal drugs while
demand
remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. In
terms of
addictive drugs like heroin, a temporary rise in street prices leads desperate
addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits.

Make no mistake, the drug war doesn't fight crime - it fuels crime.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, injection
drug use has directly and indirectly accounted for 58 percent of all
AIDS cases among women in the United States. This public health crisis
is a direct result of zero tolerance policies that restrict access to
clean syringes.

As far as drug treatment is concerned, law enforcement's involvement
is part of the problem.

In order for drug treatment to be truly effective policymakers are
going to have to tone down the tough-on-drugs rhetoric.Would
alcoholics seek treatment 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? It's time to
stop wasting the taxpayer's money on drug policies that do more harm
than good.

Robert Sharpe, Program Officer, The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation