CALL TRUCE IN DRUG WAR

North Carolina is not the only state grappling with overcrowded prisons.
Throughout the nation, states facing budget shortfalls are pursuing
alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders.

A study conducted by the RAND Corporation found that every additional
dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.48 in
societal costs.

There is far more at stake than tax dollars.

The drug war is not the promoter of family values that some would have us
believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure,
joblessness, addiction and delinquency.

Not only do the children lose out, but society as a whole does too.
Incarcerating non-violent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals is
the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in
anti-social behavior.

Turning drug users into unemployable ex-cons is a senseless waste of tax
dollars. It's time to declare peace in the failed drug war and begin
treating all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health
problem it is. Destroying the futures and families of citizens who make
unhealthy choices doesn't benefit anyone. Drug abuse is bad, but the drug
war is worse.

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

Robert Sharpe

Washington, D.C.