THE DRUG WAR WAGED UNFAIRLY

David Harris' Dec. 11 column criticizing racial profiling as a
strategy in the war against drugs was right on target. The drug war
is arguably waged in a racist manner, with blacks bearing the brunt
of zero-tolerance law enforcement. While 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 it is.

Bryan M. Maldony