DRUG USERS NEED HELP, NOT PRISON

Your Jan. 11 editorial was right on target ("Rehabilitation best way to
fight drugs"). 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.

Reference for above-mentioned study: Rydell, C.P. & Everingham, S.S.,
Controlling Cocaine, Prepared for the Office of National Drug Control
Policy and the United States Army (Santa Monica, CA: Drug Policy Research
Center, RAND Corporation, 1994)

ROBERT SHARPE, Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C.