WAR IS WORSE

Regarding the July 5 editorial on the Choteau drug
bust:

The work of the Central Montana Drug Task Force is no doubt
well-intended, but ultimately counterproductive. Attempts to limit the
supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase
the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like
methamphetamine, 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With alcohol prohibition repealed, liquor bootleggers no longer gun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 do not 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

Washington, D.C.