BUILDING MORE PRISONS WON'T STEM THE DRUG TRADE

Hal Riedl advocates building more prisons to ease overcrowding and stop
releasing violent prisoners to commit more crimes ("More and good prisons
needed," Opinion Commentary, July 26).

Mr. Riedl is correct about the perils of early release, but violent
offenders have become a dwindling proportion of those who are entering our
prisons.

From 1980 to 1997, the number per 100,000000 people imprisoned in the U.S.
for violent offenses doubled, whereas the rate tripled for nonviolent
offenses. In the same period, the rate for drug offenders increased more
than 10 times.

Mr. Riedl's argument that increasing the prison population will decrease
crime rates does not apply to drug offenders.

States with higher rates of drug incarceration usually show higher rates of
drug use. Furthermore, high rates of drug incarceration in prior years do
not correlate with lower drug use in subsequent years.

We should explore alternate avenues for nonviolent offenders and drug
offenders, rather than sending them to these de facto crime schools.

By treating drug use as a health problem instead of one for law
enforcement, we could even close some prisons, divert more money for other
needs and, with surplus facilities, we could attempt the rehabilitation of
the nonviolent offenders.

Kevin Fansler, Havre de Grace