USE TREATMENT TO HELP METH USERS

How should Tallahassee respond to the growing use of methamphetamine?
During the crack epidemic of the '80s, New York City chose the
zero-tolerance approach, opting to arrest and prosecute as many
offenders as possible. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry
was smoking crack, and America's capital had the highest murder rate
in the country. Yet crack use declined in both cities
simultaneously.

Simply put, the younger generation saw what crack was doing to older
brothers and sisters and decided that crack was bad news. This is not
to say nothing can be done about methamphetamine. Access to drug
treatment is critical for the current generation of meth users.
Diverting resources from prisons and into cost-effective treatment
would save both tax dollars and lives.

Robert Sharpe

Policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.

www.csdp.org