TREATING DRUG ABUSE SAVES MONEY, PREVENTS SOCIAL ILLS

To the Editor:

Thank you for making the case of substance abuse treatment in your
editorial ("Money in the right place, Oct. 22). A study conducted by
the RAND Corporation found that every additional dollar invested in
substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.48 in societal costs.
Additionally, the drug war is not the promoter of family values that
some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of
educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency.
Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals
is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education
in anti-social behavior. It's time to declare peace in the failed drug
war and begin treating all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the
public health problem it is.

Robert Sharpe

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.