NATION'S DRUG WAR IS BASED ON RACE

The drug war has been waged in a racist manner since its inception.
The Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 was preceded by a wave of
anti-immigrant sentiment. Opium was identified with Chinese laborers,
marijuana with Mexicans and cocaine with African-Americans. Racial
profiling continues to be the norm, despite similar rates of drug use
for minorities and whites. Support for the drug war would end
overnight if whites were incarcerated for drugs at the same rate as
minorities. The drug war is a cultural inquisition, not a public
health campaign.

Prison cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective
as deterrents. 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 it is. Thanks to public education efforts, tobacco use
has declined considerably in recent years. Mandatory minimum prison
sentences, civil asset forfeiture, random drug testing and racial
profiling are not the most cost-effective means of discouraging
unhealthy choices. Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse.

ROBERT SHARPE, Washington, D.C.

Robert Sharpe is a policy analyst with Common Sense for Drug Policy,
in Washington, D.C.