WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS MISUSING DRUG COURTS

This letter is being written in response to the Jan. 29 column by Bill
Hayes.

Drug courts are definitely a step in the right direction. For
non-violent offenders with chronic substance abuse problems, drug
treatment is a cost-effective alternative to incarceration.

Unfortunately, drug courts are being misused for political purposes by
the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Record numbers
of U.S. citizens arrested for marijuana possession have been forced
into treatment by the criminal justice system.

The resulting distortion of treatment statistics is used by drug czar
John Walters to make the claim that marijuana is "addictive."

Zero tolerance drug laws do not distinguish between occasional use and
chronic abuse. The coercion of Americans who prefer marijuana to
martinis into taxpayer-funded treatment centers says a lot about U.S.
government priorities, but absolutely nothing about the relative harms
of marijuana.

For an objective take on marijuana, look to Canada.

In the words of Sen. Pierre Claude Nolin, "Scientific evidence
overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful
than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a
social and public health issue."

Robert Sharpe, MPA policy analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C