MORE FOR TREATMENT, LESS FOR PRISONS

To the editor:

How should Missouri respond to illegal methamphetamine use? During
the crack epidemic of the 1980s, New York City chose the
zero-tolerance approach, opting to arrest and prosecute as many users
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, members of 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,

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.