TOUGH DRUG LAWS HELP DRIVE THE BLACK MARKET

Regarding your excellent Feb. 11 editorial, it's only natural that
prosecutors across New York are defending the Rockefeller drug laws. Like
drug dealers, prosecutors are dependent on tough laws that give rise to a
thriving black market.

Drug policy reform threatens to derail the entire
drug war gravy train. There are cost-effective alternatives to the zero
tolerance approach.

The Netherlands has successfully reduced overall drug
use by replacing marijuana prohibition with regulation. Separating the hard
and soft drug markets and establishing controls for age has proven more
effective than the zero tolerance policies of the United States. The
Netherlands has significantly lower rates of drug use than the United
States, despite dramatically lower per capita spending on the drug problem.

As the most popular illicit drug in America, marijuana provides the black
market contacts that introduce users to drugs like heroin. Current drug
policy is effectively a gateway policy. Given that marijuana is acknowledged
by many public health experts to be less harmful than alcohol, it makes no
sense to perpetuate flawed policies that finance organized crime and
facilitate hard drug use.

Sensible regulation is desperately needed to
undermine the youth-oriented black market. Granted, alternatives to the
never-ending drug war would put thousands of criminal justice professionals
out of business. Given the counterproductive nature of the drug war, that
might not be a bad thing.

ROBERT SHARPE, M.P.A.

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