PLACING NON-VIOLENT DRUG USERS IN JAIL IS A HUGE WASTE OF TAX DOLLARS

Editor, This is in response to your editorial on alternative
sentencing, published Sunday, May 2.

Pennsylvania 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 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 non-violent drug offenders alongside hardened
criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded
education in criminal 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