BUSINESS APPROACH TO DRUG POLICY

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is making the same mistakes as predecessor
Gray Davis by bowing to California's massive prison industrial
complex. For decades, entrenched interests riding the drug war gravy
train have dominated the drug policy debate. As a result, state
budgets favor incarceration over education. Prison guard unions and
for-profit prisons fund the campaigns of politicians willing to
support mandatory minimum sentencing and zero-tolerance drug laws.

This is the business approach to drug policy. The more citizens
behind bars, the more money the prison industry makes. It's worth
noting that tobacco use has declined considerably in recent years.
Public education efforts are paying off. Apparently mandatory minimum
prison sentences, civil asset forfeiture, random drug testing and
racial profiling are not necessarily the most cost-effective means of
discouraging unhealthy choices.

Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC