KEEP DRUG COURT AWAY FROM POLITICS

For non-violent offenders with chronic substance abuse problems, drug
courts are a cost-effective alternative to incarceration. If Red Deer
does institute a drug court, I just hope it isn't misused for
political purposes the way they are here in the U.S.

Record numbers of U.S. citizens arrested for marijuana possession
have been forced into treatment by the criminal justice system. The
resulting distortion of treatment statistics is used by U.S. drug
czar John Walters to make the claim that marijuana is "addictive."

Zero-tolerance drug laws do not distinguish between occasional use
and chronic abuse.

The coercion of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis into
government treatment centers says a lot about President George Bush's
priorities, but absolutely nothing about the relative harms of marijuana.

If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms,
marijuana would be legal.

Canada should just say No to the American Inquisition.

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.