ZERO TOLERANCE LAWS INCONSISTENT

Monica Pardee makes a strong case for drug courts in her April 22
op-ed. For non-violent offenders with chronic substance abuse
problems, drug treatment is a cost-effective alternative to
incarceration. Unfortunately, drug courts are being misused for
political purposes.

Record numbers of Americans arrested for marijuana possession have
been forced into treatment by the criminal justice system. The
resulting distortion of treatment statistics are then used by drug
czar John Walters to make the claim that marijuana is
"addictive."

Zero tolerance drug laws do not distinguish between occasional use and
chronic abuse. The coercion of Americans who prefer marijuana to
martinis into taxpayer-funded treatment centers says a lot about U.S.
government priorities, but absolutely nothing about the relative harms
of marijuana. For an objective take on marijuana, look to Canada.

In the words of Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, "Scientific evidence
overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful
than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a
social and public health issue."

Students who want to help end the intergenerational culture war
otherwise known as the war on some drugs should contact Students for
Sensible Drug Policy at www.ssdp.org.

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A., program officer, Drug Policy Alliance