REGARDING TGI'S JULY 3 EDITORIAL

How should Hawai'i respond to crystal methamphetamine use?

During the crack cocaine epidemic of the eighties, New York City
chose the zero tolerance approach, opting to arrest and prosecute 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.

Robert Sharpe,
Arlington, Va.