WAR ON DRUGS AIMS BUT MISSES TARGET

Because heroin is sold via an unregulated black market, its quality
and purity fluctuate tremendously. A user accustomed to low-quality
heroin who unknowingly uses pure heroin will likely overdose. The
inevitable tough-on-drugs response to overdose deaths is part of the
problem. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand
remains constant only increases the profitability of drug trafficking.
For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads
desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate
habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime; it fuels crime.

While the U.S. remains committed to moralistic drug policies modeled
after alcohol prohibition, Europe has largely abandoned the drug war
in favor of public health alternatives. Switzerland's heroin
maintenance program has been shown to reduce drug-related disease,
death and crime among chronic users. Providing chronic addicts with
standardized doses in a clinical setting eliminates many of the
problems associated with illicit heroin use.

Heroin maintenance pilot projects are underway in Canada, Germany,
Spain and the Netherlands. If expanded, prescription heroin
maintenance would deprive organized crime of a core client base. This
would render illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and spare future
generations from addiction. Putting public health before politics may
send the wrong message to children, but I like to think that the
children are more important than the message. Students who want to
help reform harmful prohibition laws should contact Students for
Sensible Drug Policy at www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com.

For information on the efficacy of heroin maintenance, please read the
following British Medical Journal report:
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/327/7410/310.

To learn more about heroin maintenance research in Canada, please
visit: http://www.naomistudy.ca/.

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Common Sense for Drug Policy is a nonprofit organization "dedicated to
reforming drug policy and expanding harm reduction," according to its
Web site.