DRUG WAR FUELS CRIME

Regarding your Oct. 26 editorial, if arrests and criminal convictions
deterred illegal drug use, the goal of a "drug-free" America would
have been achieved decades ago. Instead of adding to what is already
the highest incarceration rate in the world, we should be funding
drug treatment. The drug war is a cure that is worse than the
disease. Drug prohibition finances organized crime at home and
terrorism abroad, which is then used to justify increased drug war
spending. It's time to end this madness and instead treat all
substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health problem it
is. Thanks to public education efforts, tobacco use has declined
considerably in recent years. Apparently mandatory minimum prison
sentences, civil asset forfeiture, random drug testing and racial
profiling are not necessarily the most cost-effective means of
discouraging unhealthy choices. Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse.

ROBERT SHARPE

Washington, D.C.

November 3, 2005

Editor's note: The writer is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy.