TREAT DRUG ABUSE AS A PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM

Re "Stay the course on drug stings" (editorial, June 19):

Does moving open-air drug markets from one Norfolk or Virginia Beach
neighborhood to the next constitute victory in the war on drugs?

Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains
constant only increase the profits from drug trafficking. For
addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate
addicts to increase their criminal activity to feed desperate habits.
The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime.

Drug policy should focus not on reducing the number of people who use
drugs, but on reducing the amount of death, disease, crime and
suffering associated with both drug use and enforcement.

Drug prohibition finances organized crime at home and terrorism
abroad, which is then used to justify increased drug war spending.

It's time to end this madness and instead treat all substance abuse,
legal or otherwise, as the public health problem it is.

Robert Sharpe

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.