DRUG COURTS ARE BEING MISUSED

The Hinds County Drug Court Diversion program is definitely a step in the
right direction ("Our Views: Testimonies show value of drug court," March
22). 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 is 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 Sen.
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."

Robert Sharpe, program officer, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, D.C.