SENTENCES NOT BEST WAY TO ENCOURAGE HEALTHY CHOICES

Re: Tories fixing system before we know it's broken, column by David Teetzel
Nov. 21.

If long prison sentences deterred illicit drug use, Canada's southern
neighbor would be drug-free.

That's not the case.

The drug war has done little other than give the former land of the
free the highest incarceration rate in the world.

It's worth noting tobacco use has declined considerably in recent
years.

Public education efforts are paying off.

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

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC