ACCESS TO TREATMENT CRITICAL FOR CURRENT GENERATION OF METH USERS

How should Alabama 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., 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 firsthand 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.

Robert Sharpe

Policy analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.