DRUG POLICY CONTRIBUTES TO POOR ECONOMY

To the Cigar,

It's terrible that URI's hardworking and dedicated faculty members must
take a pay freeze this year ("Faculty, union express disdain over new pay
freeze for current year"; Fri, 9/26).

This is because the State of Rhode Island, like many other states, is
undergoing a fiscal crisis. Increased spending on the Drug War is partly to
blame.

Thanks to the '"lock 'em up" approach to drug policy, the US prison
population now exceeds 2.1 million. This problem is disproportionately bad
here in Rhode Island. In 2002, the number of prisoners in the state
increased by 17.4 percent - the highest increase in the country. According
to the head of the RI Dept. of Corrections, it costs about $37,000 to
incarcerate an inmate for one year at the ACI. Additionally, it costs about
$108,000 to house one young person at juvenile hall for a year.

It is time for a reappraisal of our federal and state drug policies. A
recent study showed that every dollar spent on drug treatment saves
taxpayers $7.46 in societal costs.

The inherent failures of the War on Drugs do not exist in a vacuum. Current
misguided policies are detrimental to the economy, public health, civil
liberties, and the checkbooks of URI's finest.

Sincerely,

Micah Daigle

URI SSDP Co-President