REDUCING METH USE

Congratulations to the Utah Council for Crime Prevention (UCCP) for their
efforts to combat Utah's meth problem (Tribune, Feb. 3). It is, however,
unfortunate that no intelligence is behind these efforts.

Methamphetamines are unarguably a problem in Utah, placing us No. 1
nationwide in per capita meth labs. Narcing people out so far has done
nothing to combat meth production. It has only increased demand and made it
so a larger profit could be made. Currently, an ounce of meth is more
valuable than an ounce of gold. People will obviously be lured by the
astronomical profit involved.

If we establish that the production and usage of meth is wrong, we must
also establish ways for users to get help, and make it so there is no
profit in the production/distribution/selling of meth. Prison is currently
the only mechanism in place to address this issue, and our recent past will
show us how ineffective it is. Rehabilitation programs for users are
two-thirds cheaper than prison, and are far more humane than the vigilante
attitude encouraged by the UCCP.

We should not be concerned with what punishments we want these criminals to
face in prison, but instead think about how we want them to be when they
come out. Harm reduction would enable users to arrest their addiction,
instead of recirculating them through our prisons. It would also reward
people for seeking help and allow them to get the help they so desperately
need.

Maybe if these apparatuses were in place, users would get the help they
need and would not even require people to narc them out to make our society
better.

James Vincent Roach, Salt Lake City