TIME TO CHANGE STRATEGIES IN WAR AGAINST DRUG ABUSE

Regarding your April 20 editorial, Utah 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 nonviolent 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.

Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C.