'METH' RESOURCES SHOULD BE DIVERTED TO TREATMENT

To The Oak Ridger:

How should Tennessee respond to the growing use of methamphetamine?

Expanding the drug war is not necessarily the answer.

During the crack epidemic of the 1980s, New York 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.

The decline was not due to the infamous mandatory minimum sentencing laws
that have put so many non-violent offenders behind bars. Simply put, the
younger generation saw first hand 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. 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 tax dollars and lives. It's worth noting that tobacco use has
declined considerably in recent years. Public education efforts are paying off.

Apparently, mandatory minimum sentences, civil asset forfeiture, random
drug testing and racial profiling are not necessarily the most
cost-effective means of discouraging unhealthy choices.

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