PENALTIES ALONE WON'T WORK

A drug few people had heard of two or three years ago is taking an
increasing toll among its users, and some prosecutors now want to toughen
penalties for those caught selling it.

The instinct to protect young people from dangerous drugs is only right and
natural. Whether that goal will be served by the current proposal is open
to question.

Prompted by DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett, House Minority
Leader Lee Daniels is recommending that the consequences for those who sell
Ecstasy and other so-called "club drugs" be made just as severe as the
punishment meted out for those who sell cocaine, heroin and LSD.

That certainly would be the right move if the club drugs were as dangerous
to users as heroin, cocaine and LSD and if lawmakers could be confident
that enacting harsher penalties would effectively curb the flow of these
substances.

But whether Ecstasy proves to be as devastating to its users as heroin or
cocaine remains to be seen. In at least some regards, that seems unlikely.
Ecstasy poses risks, to be sure. Tragically, three suburban teenagers died
last spring after taking what they believed to be Ecstasy. But authorities
blame Ecstasy look-alikes in those deaths, suggesting greater risk in the
fake club drugs than in the club drugs themselves.

Moreover, the hard knocks of America's war on drugs have demonstrated that
tough penalties alone are not enough to shut down the use of drugs. We have
filled tens of thousands of cells with drug dealers and for that effort
have all too little progress to show in reducing the damage done by drugs.

Which is not to say that penalties for selling club drugs shouldn't be
boosted by some amount. Prosecutors believe drug peddlers are apt to sell
those drugs with impunity now because they know existing penalties are not
very harsh - sometimes resulting only in probation. If that assessment is
correct, then it is appropriate to adopt tougher penalties. Again, whether
the sentences should be as harsh as the ones that apply to heroin and coke
dealers should be debated.

But no one should pretend that tougher penalties alone will be enough to
stem the tide. Education efforts that give young people accurate and candid
information about the effects of Ecstasy and similar drugs are essential.
If real gains are to be made in reducing dangerous drug use, then we must
find more effective ways to deal with the demand side of the equation as
well as the supply side.