FAILED DRUG WAR

This is in response to your March 18 editorial, "Dakota County detox
center: County has little choice in detox changes."

Shortsighted budget cuts in drug treatment will likely prove very expensive
over the long run. A study conducted by the RAND Corp. 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.

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.

ROBERT SHARPE