DRUG USE DROPS SPONTANEOUSLY

How should Oklahoma respond to the growing use of methamphetmine? During
the crack epidemic of the 1980s, New York City chose the zero-tolerance
approach, opting to arrest and prosecute as many users as possible.
Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., former 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 first-hand 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 meth. 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.

The following U.S. Department of Justice research brief confirms my claims
regarding the spontaneous decline of crack cocaine:
www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles1/nij/187490.txt

ROBERT SHARPE, MPA

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

www.csdp.org