SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT IS SMARTER

To the Daily:
Regarding the Daily's thoughtful editorial last week about
rehabilitation services for prisoners (Locked-up logic, 11/28/2007):
A study conducted by the RAND Corporation found that every additional
dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.48.
And there is far more at stake than tax dollars.

The drug war is not the promoter of family values that some would
have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational
failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Not only do the
children lose out, but so does society as a whole. Incarcerating
non-violent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals is the
equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in
anti-social behavior.

Turning drug users into unemployable ex-cons is a senseless waste of
tax dollars. It's time to declare peace in the failed drug war and
begin treating all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public
health problem that it is. Destroying the futures of people who make
unhealthy choices and their families doesn't benefit anyone.

Robert Sharpe

The letter writer is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy.