STOPPING METH EPIDEMIC

Re "Wise way to spend a million bucks: Scaring teens, stopping meth"
(Editorial, Feb. 26):

How should Alabama respond to illicit methamphetamine use? During the
crack epidemic of the 1980s, New York City chose the zero-tolerance
approach, opting to arrest and incarcerate as many offenders as
possible. Meanwhile, Washington Mayor Marion Barry was smoking crack
and America's capital had the highest per capita murder rate in the
country. Yet crack use declined in both cities simultaneously.

The decline was not due to a slick anti-drug advertising campaign or
the passage of mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Simply put, the
younger generation saw firsthand what crack was doing to its older
brothers and sisters and decided for itself that crack was bad news.
This is not to say nothing can be done about meth.

Access to drug treatment is critical for the current generation of
meth users. Prison cells are inappropriate as health interventions
and ineffective as deterrents. Diverting resources away from prisons
and into cost-effective treatment would save both tax dollars and lives.

Robert Sharpe

Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C.