FAILED WAR ON DRUGS ACTUALLY SUBSIDIZES CRIME

The Feb. 3 editorial in The Sheboygan Press makes the common mistake
of confusing drug-related crime with prohibition-related crime.
Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains
constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For
addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate
addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The
drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime.

With alcohol prohibition repealed, liquor bootleggers no longer
gunned each other down in drive-by shootings, nor did consumers go
blind drinking unregulated bathtub gin. While U.S. politicians ignore
the drug war's historical precedent, European countries are embracing
harm reduction, a public health alternative based on the principle
that both drug abuse and prohibition have the potential to cause harm.

Examples of harm reduction include needle exchange programs to stop
the spread of HIV, marijuana regulation aimed at separating the hard
and soft drug markets, and treatment alternatives that do not require
incarceration as a prerequisite. Unfortunately, fear of appearing
"soft on crime" compels many U.S. politicians to support a failed
drug war that ultimately subsidizes organized crime. Drug abuse is
bad, but the drug war is worse.

ROBERT SHARPE Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C.