LOOSEN DRUG LAWS

Mandatory minimum prison sentences have done little more than give the
land of the free the highest incarceration rate in the world (For
equal treatment under the law, Opinion, Nov. 21). The deterrent value
of tough drug laws is overrated. During the crack epidemic of the
'80s, New York City chose the zero-tolerance approach, prosecuting as
many offenders as possible. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion
Barry was smoking crack, and America's capital had the highest
per-capita murder rate in the country. Yet crack use declined in both
cities simultaneously.

The decline was not because of a slick anti-drug advertising campaign
or mandatory minimum sentencing laws.

Rather, the younger generation saw firsthand what crack was doing to
older siblings and decided that crack was bad news.

This is not to say that nothing can be done about hard drugs such as
crack and methamphetamine. Access to substance-abuse treatment is
critical. 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.