AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY

Your editorial [July 19] on drug decriminalization was one of the most
thoughtful I've read on the subject. It's ironic that politicians who
dare discuss decriminalization are labeled soft on crime. Like
Prohibition in the 1920s, the drug war is financing organized crime,
with little to show for it. When police interdiction limits supply
while demand remains constant, drug trafficking becomes more
profitable. Granted, bad people often are arrested, but with drug
dealing made more profitable, someone inevitably steps in to reap
those profits. The drug war effectively fuels crime, while failing
miserably at protecting children from drugs.

Am I suggesting that we just give up and legalize drugs? Contrary to
what drug warriors would have us believe when they apply the
"legalizer" label, there is a middle ground between total legalization
and drug prohibition. By registering hard-drug addicts and providing
standardized doses in a treatment setting, we could eliminate the
public health problems of an unregulated market.

Organized crime would lose a lucrative client base, thereby rendering
illegal drug trafficking unprofitable. With the black market
destroyed, future generations would be spared the horror of addiction.

Robert Sharpe, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, George Washington
University, Washington, D.C.