PRISON NOT ANSWER TO DRUG PROBLEMS

Regarding Rep. Todd Hiett's July 23 op-ed, drug courts are definitely a
step in the right direction, but an arrest should not be a necessary
prerequisite for drug treatment. Would alcoholics seek help for their
illness if doing so were tantamount to confessing to criminal activity?
Likewise, would putting every incorrigible alcoholic behind bars and
saddling them with criminal records prove cost-effective?

The United States recently earned the dubious distinction of having the
highest incarceration rate in the world, with drug offenses accounting for
the majority of federal incarcerations.

This is big government at its worst. At an average cost of $26,134 per
inmate annually, maintaining the world's largest prison system can hardly
be considered fiscally conservative.

The threat of prison that coerced treatment relies upon can backfire when
it's actually put to use. Prisons transmit violent habits rather than
reduce them. Imagine if every alcoholic were thrown in jail and given a
permanent criminal record. How many lives would be destroyed? How many
families torn apart? How many tax dollars would be wasted turning
potentially productive members of society into hardened criminals?

ROBERT SHARPE, MPA, policy analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.