SUBSTANCE-ABUSE PROGRAMS NEEDED

Regarding the March 24 editorial "Fewer addicts, less crime:" Florida
legislators should think twice before cutting substance-abuse
treatment programs. A better way to save money is alternatives to
incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders. Children of inmates are
at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and
delinquency. Not only do the children lose out, but society as a whole
does, too.

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.

ROBERT SHARPE, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington