DETRIMENTAL DRUG LAWS

The Dec. 19 Daily Herald article on the possibility of criminal charges
related to an overdose death in Naperville (charges have since been filed)
is a prime example of the manner in which America's drug problem is
compounded by the very laws meant to address it. Zero-tolerance approaches
to addiction discourage addicts from seeking help.

Drug users are reluctant to call 911 when a fellow user overdoses for fear
of being charged with a crime.

Likewise, tough-on-drugs attitudes prevent the type of honest discussion
necessary to facilitate voluntary treatment. Would alcoholics seek
treatment if doing so were tantamount to confessing to criminal activity?

There is more at stake than the addict's health. According to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, injection drug use has directly and
indirectly accounted for 36 percent of AIDS cases in the United States.

Since the epidemic began, 58 percent of all AIDS cases among women have
been attributed to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs.

This public health crisis is a direct result of zero-tolerance policies
that prohibit the sale of needles and drive drug use underground.

The misguided drug war does far more harm than good. Like alcohol
prohibition once did, the drug war causes tremendous societal harm, while
failing miserably at preventing use.

Drug laws fuel organized crime and violence, which is then used to justify
increased drug war spending.

It is time to end this madness and start treating all substance abuse -
legal or otherwise - as the public health problem it is.

Robert Sharpe

Program Officer

The Lindesmith Center

Drug Policy Foundation

www.drugpolicy.org

Washington, D.C.