METH LABS

South Carolina's methamphetamine labs are reminiscent of the exploding
liquor stills that sprang up during Prohibition.

Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have created a
youth-oriented black market. Drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do
recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the
children. Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to
limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only make
drug trafficking more profitable.

For addictive drugs like meth, 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.

Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a
cost-effective alternative to never-ending drug war. As long as organized
crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers will continue to come into
contact with sellers of hard drugs like meth.

This "gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy. Given
that marijuana is arguably safer than alcohol -- the plant has never been
shown to cause an overdose death -- it makes no sense to perpetuate failed
policies that finance organized crime and facilitate hard-drug use.

Drug policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to
think the children are more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe, MPA, Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Arlington, Va.