'DRUG ABUSE IS BAD, BUT DRUG WAR IS WORSE'

Regarding Nolan Finley's thoughtful Nov. 19th column ("Subject drug
war to the Iraq War test"), if harsh penalties deterred illegal drug
use, the goal of a "drug-free" America would have been achieved
decades ago. Instead of adding to what is already 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. With alcohol prohibition repealed,
liquor bootleggers no longer gun each other down in drive-by
shootings, nor do consumers go blind drinking unregulated bathtub gin.

Thanks to public education efforts, tobacco use has declined
considerably in recent years.

Apparently mandatory minimum prison 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, D.C.