SPEND MONEY ON SOLUTIONS, NOT JAIL

Mandatory minimum prison sentences have done little other than give
the land of the free the highest incarceration rate in the world. The
deterrent value of tough drug laws is grossly overrated. During the
crack epidemic of the 1980s, New York City chose the zero-tolerance
approach. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was smoking
crack and America's capital had the highest per-capita murder rate in
the country. Yet crack use declined in both cities simultaneously.
Simply put, the younger generation saw firsthand what crack was doing
to their older siblings and decided for themselves that crack was bad
news. This is not to say nothing can be done about hard drugs like
crack or methamphetamine, the latest headline grabber. Access to
substance-abuse treatment is critical. Diverting resources away from
prisons and into cost-effective treatment would save both tax dollars
and lives.

Robert Sharpe

Sharpe is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy