BEING TOUGH ON DRUGS THREATENS PUBLIC SAFETY

Thank you for making the case for methadone treatment in your Jan. 15
editorial. Methadone has been proven to reduce drug use and related
crime, death and disease among chronic heroin addicts. It's also a
viable treatment for OxyContin addiction.

Methadone staves off debilitating withdrawal symptoms, but it does
not produce a high that prevents patients from living productive
lives. The tough-on-drugs alternative is a very real threat to public safety.

Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains
constant only increase the profitability of 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. Unfortunately,
tough-on-drugs politicians have built careers on confusing the drug
prohibition's collateral damage with drugs themselves.

When politics trumps science, people die. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention researchers estimate that 57 percent of AIDS cases
among women, and 36 percent of overall AIDS cases in the U.S., are
linked to injection-drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs.
This easily preventable public health crisis is a direct result of
zero-tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes.

Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse.

Robert Sharpe, Policy analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.