To The Editor: Susan Hanley Lane makes the common mistake of confusing
drug-related crime with prohibition-related crime in her Feb. 2 column.
Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains
constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For
addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate
addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug
war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime.

With alcohol prohibition repealed, liquor bootleggers no longer gun each
other down in drive-by shootings, nor do consumers go blind drinking
unregulated bathtub gin. While U.S. politicians ignore the drug war's
historical precedent, European countries are embracing harm reduction, a
public health alternative based on the principle that both drug abuse and
prohibition have the potential to cause harm.

Examples of harm reduction include needle exchange programs to stop the
spread of HIV, marijuana regulation aimed at separating the hard and soft
drug markets and treatment alternatives that don't require incarceration
as a prerequisite. Unfortunately, fear of appearing "soft on crime"
compels many U.S. politicians to support a failed drug war that ultimately
subsidizes organized crime. Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse.

Robert Sharpe, MPA Arlington, Va.

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy