DRUG POLICY FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED

Dear Editor:

Re: Murray Mandryk's column "Rural Saskatchewan not as safe as we think."

How should Saskatchewan respond to the growing use of methamphetamine? Here
in the United States, New York City chose the zero tolerance approach during
the crack epidemic of the eighties. Meanwhile, Washington, DC 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. The decline was not due to a slick anti-drug advertising
campaign or the passage of mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Simply put,
the younger generation saw firsthand what crack was doing to their older
siblings and decided for themselves that crack was bad news.

This is not to say nothing can be done about methamphetamine. Access
to drug treatment is critical for the current generation of users. In
order to protect future generations from hard drugs like meth,
policymakers need to adopt the Canadian Senate's common sense proposal
to tax and regulate marijuana. As long as marijuana distribution
remains in the hands of organized crime, consumers will continue to
come into contact with addictive drugs like meth. This "gateway" is
the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy. Drug policy reform
may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think the
children are more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC