TREATMENT BETTER THAN PRISON FOR DRUG OFFENDERS

Regarding the excellent Dec. 28 editorial on the injustices of
mandatory minimum sentences, the drug war is arguably waged in a
racist manner, with blacks bearing the brunt of zero-tolerance law
enforcement.

Although only 15 percent of the nation's drug users are black, blacks
account for 37 percent of those arrested for drug violations, over 42
percent of those in federal prisons for drug violations and almost 60
percent of those in state prisons for drug felonies. Violent crime
continues to trend downward, yet the land of the free recently earned
the dubious distinction of having the highest incarceration rate in
the world, with drug offenses accounting for the majority of federal
incarcerations.

Support for the failed drug war would end overnight if whites were
incarcerated for drug offenses at the same rates as blacks. Racially
disproportionate incarceration rates are not the only cause for
alarm. Our taxes are financing for-profit prison systems that serve
to transmit violent habits and values rather than reduce them. Rather
than waste scarce resources turning potentially productive members of
society with drug problems into hardened criminals, we should be
funding cost-effective treatment. It's time to rethink the failed
drug war and start treating all substance abuse -- legal or otherwise
- -- as the public health problem that it is.

ROBERT SHARPE, MPA
Program Officer
The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation Washington, D.C.