ACCESS TO DRUG TREATMENT NEEDED

How should Alaska respond to the growing use of methamphetamine?
During the crack 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
methamphetamine. 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.