DRUG WAR ADDS PROBLEMS

Regarding your Feb. 6 editorial, Florida is one of many states
grappling with overcrowded prisons. Throughout the nation, states
facing budget shortfalls are pursuing alternatives to incarceration
for nonviolent drug offenders. A study conducted by the RAND Corp.
found that every additional dollar invested in substance abuse
treatment saves taxpayers $7.48 in societal costs. There is far more
at stake than tax dollars.

The drug war is not the promoter of family values that some would have
us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure,
joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Not only do the children lose,
but society as a whole. Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders with
hardened criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a
taxpayer-funded education in anti-social behavior.

Turning drug users into unemployable ex-cons is a senseless waste of
taxes. Let's declare peace in the failed drug war and begin treating
all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health problem
it is. Destroying the futures and families of citizens who make
unhealthy choices doesn't benefit anyone. Drug abuse is bad, but the
drug war is worse.

Robert Sharpe

Policy analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Arlington, Va.