METH USERS NEED TREATMENT

Regarding the editorial "Forum to detail danger of meth" in the July
30 issue, how should Hawaii respond to crystal methamphetamine use?
During the crack epidemic of the 1980s, New York City chose the zero
tolerance approach, opting to arrest and incarcerate as many offenders
as possible. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was
smoking crack, and America's capital had the highest per-capita murder
rate in the country. Yet crack use declined in both cities
simultaneously.

Simply put, the younger generation saw firsthand what crack was doing
to their older brothers and sisters and decided for themselves that
crack was bad news. This is not to say nothing can be done about meth.
Access to drug treatment is critical for the current generation of
meth users. Diverting resources away from prisons and into
cost-effective treatment would save both tax dollars and lives.

The following U.S. Department of Justice research brief confirms my
claims regarding the spontaneous decline of crack cocaine:
http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles1/nij/187490.txt

Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy