FIGHT CRACK USING METHADONE MODEL

The Dec. 31 paper featured another senseless shooting on Wheaton
Street. A week or so before, $6,000 in cash was found in the vehicle
of a young man who had led police on an extensive car chase. I doubt
the young man saved up $6,000 by flipping burgers.

The drug war is an abysmal failure. Drug businesses are open and
thriving on almost every street corner in Savannah; extremely
profitable, but the source of extreme misery and deadly violence,
especially in the minority community.

The drug war is expensive to both federal and local governments and
some way to reduce this cost is needed.

The solution, in my opinion is obvious, treat drug use as the disease
it is rather than always as a criminal matter.

Why not open up a "Crack House" under medical supervision, wherein
those addicted to crack can be treated with free government provided
crack in exchange for attending counseling on how to kick their crack
addiction. Attendees would need to be assured that their attendance
would be confidential and no criminal charges would be filed against
them. We did this in the past with Methadone clinics and the time is
right to again try treatment in lieu of incarceration.

The crack dealers would definitely be against this solution as it
would dry up their business, but the time has come to try a different
approach.

MIKE HORNER, Savannah