PEOPLE WITH DRUG PROBLEMS NEED HELP, NOT LONG JAIL SENTENCES

Without a doubt, it is extremely disturbing that the former head of Calvin
College's criminal justice program now faces charges of possession with
intent to deliver cocaine, as reported by The Press on June 29. The college
and the Grand Rapids community where he has laudably served feel stunned
and hurt as he is being accused of the very thing he stood against. Whoever
is without sin cast the first stone.

What is at least as disturbing to me as the charges themselves is the fact
that a conviction results in a minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 20 years
in prison.

It is disturbing because long-term incarcerations are a by-product of the
war on drugs, a war that we have been waging intensely through the 80's and
90's. Long-term incarceration does nothing really to address our pervasive
drug problem.

Three decades after President Nixon's declared "war" on drugs, they are
more readily available, at greater purity and at lower prices than ever before.

Incarcerating persons who possess and/or sell illegal drugs may make many
of us feel better, but nearly tripling the prison population, as we did in
the 80's, has resulted in our prisons being overrun with non-violent drug
offenders. And for every person who is incarcerated for selling (often
supporting their own addiction), there are others willing to take their
place on the streets. Meanwhile, there are millions of addicts and
alcoholics who cannot get treatment on request.

The movie "Traffic" makes the point that addressing demand -- not supply --
is the appropriate response to the drug problem. Solutions are in treatment
and prevention, not heavy policing and law enforcement.

There is a philosophy in Europe called "harm reduction." It recognizes the
reality that drugs are here to stay and it focuses on reducing harm, not
eliminating the problem.

"War" conveys something to be won and it utilizes aggressive and punitive
tactics. "Harm reduction" recognizes the huge financial and human waste in
attacking the supply side of the problem and in building more and more prisons.

The United States has taken more of a harm-reduction approach with
nicotine. We know prohibition won't work; it didn't work with alcohol.

Overall rates of smoking in this country fell from 42 percent in 1965 to
approximately 25 percent in 1990 and have remained at that level up until now.

Public education and social restraints -- not punishment or fear or
incarceration -- are responsible for the reductions. Teen smoking rates
continue to rise. Appropriately, our national response has been to curtail
tobacco advertising and increase public information aimed at teens, not
arresting minors who smoke and placing them in jail.

Granted, cocaine is a highly addictive and scary drug. The threat to our
youth, however, is not the seller. Cocaine use typically begins with
friends or at a party with other users. Cocaine users don't usually seek
out a seller until they are hooked.

And cocaine addicts are not typically gun-wielding, armed robbers or
murderers. They write bad checks, shop lift, run up huge credit card bills,
prostitute or commit other nonviolent petty crimes. They are hurting and
addicted people who need help, not criminalization.

Nicotine is also a highly addictive and scary drug. And we have known for a
long time that the cost of cocaine use in terms of health, money and lives
lost is a tiny fraction compared to the costs of nicotine use.

In 1993, of the 520,000 preventable drug-related deaths reported by the
Journal of the American Medical Association, 4 percent were caused by
illegal drugs, including cocaine, and 96 percent -- 499,000 deaths -- were
caused by nicotine and alcohol. With 400,000 deaths attributed to nicotine
and approximately 100,000 to alcohol, it is clear where the major threat lies.

Here's the irony. If a store owner sells cigarettes to a minor, the state
law in Michigan calls for a $50 fine, not 1-20 years in prison. Granted, if
Robert Butler (who has since resigned from Calvin College ) is found
guilty, then he has broken the law and betrayed a vital trust in the
community. There will need to be some consequences.

At the same time, let's begin considering the kind of harm reduction
approach with cocaine that we have with nicotine. Let us move toward
decriminalizing people with drug problems, and find alternatives to putting
people with drug problems in jail for years at a time. We should place more
of our resources and energy in treatment, education and prevention.

We'll never win the war on drugs, but we certainly can be wiser and more
effective about reducing the harm.