DRUG ABUSE IS A PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM

Regarding the Paul Campos March 10 column: Mandatory minimum prison
sentences have done little other than turn the land of the free into
the world's biggest jailer. If harsh penalties deterred drug use, the
goal of a "drug-free" America would have been achieved decades ago.

Instead of adding to the highest incarceration rate in the world, we
should be funding drug treatment. The drug war is a cure worse than
the disease. Drug prohibition finances organized crime at home and
terrorism abroad, which is then used to justify increased drug war
spending.

It's time to end this madness and instead treat 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. Apparently mandatory minimum 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, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, DC