IT'S TIME TO DECLARE PEACE IN THE FAILED "DRUG WAR"

Regarding George Curry's thoughtful Feb. 20th column, 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 in the 21st Century, 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, legal tobacco use has declined considerably in recent years.
Apparently mandatory minimum prison sentences, civil asset
forfeiture, random drug testing and racial profiling are not
necessarily the most cost-effective means of discouraging unhealthy choices.

Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse.

Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy