DRUG CLINICS CAN CUT ADDICTION

There is a middle ground between drug prohibition and blanket
legalization. Switzerland's heroin maintenance program has been shown
to reduce disease, death and crime among chronic users. Providing
addicts with standardized doses in a clinical setting eliminates many
of the problems associated with illicit heroin use. The success of
the Swiss program has inspired heroin maintenance pilot projects in
Canada, Germany, Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands.

If expanded, prescription heroin maintenance would deprive organized
crime of a core client base. This would render illegal heroin
trafficking unprofitable and spare future generations addiction.

Marijuana should be taxed and regulated like alcohol, only without
the ubiquitous advertising. Separating the hard and soft drug markets
is critical. As long as marijuana distribution is controlled by
organized crime, consumers of the most popular illicit drug will
continue to come into contact with sellers of addictive drugs like
cocaine. Given that marijuana is arguably safer than legal alcohol,
it makes no sense to waste tax dollars on failed policies that
finance organized crime and facilitate hard drug use.

Drug policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like
to think the children are more important than the message. To learn
more about Canada's heroin maintenance research please visit:
http://www.naomistudy.ca/

ROBERT SHARPE MPA Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy
Washington, DC