PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM

Regarding "Cleaned-Up Corner Offers Fresh Start For Notorious
Neighborhood" (Our Opinion, March 30):

Does moving open-air drug markets from one Tampa 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 only 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 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, Washington, D.C.

The writer is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy. Web
site: www.csdp.org