DRUG WAR IS EXPENSIVE TO TAXPAYERS

A Feb. 18th article on the Laurel Police Department's use of seized assets
gave the false impression that the drug war is self-funding. That's not the
case. The drug war's burden on taxpayers grows each year as ever more drug
offenders are imprisoned. America now has the highest incarceration rate in
the world, yet drug use continues unabated as new dealers step in to reap
inflated illicit market profits. There is far more at stake than tax dollars.

So-called drug-related crime is invariably prohibition-related. Attempts to
limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only
increase the profitability of drug trafficking. In terms of addictive drugs
like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase
criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight
crime, it fuels crime.

With alcohol prohibition repealed, liquor bootleggers no longer gun each
other down in drive-by shootings, nor do consumers go blind drinking
unregulated bathtub gin.

While U.S. politicians ignore the drug war's historical precedent, European
countries are embracing harm reduction, a public health alternative based
on the principle that both drug abuse and prohibition have the potential to
cause harm.

Examples of harm reduction include needle exchange programs to stop the
spread of HIV, marijuana regulation aimed at separating the hard and soft
drug markets, and treatment alternatives that do not require incarceration
as a prerequisite.

Unfortunately, fear of appearing "soft on crime" compels U.S. politicians
to support a failed drug war that ultimately subsidizes organized crime.
Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse.

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A.,

Program Officer, Drug Policy Alliance, http://www.drugpolicy.org/,

925 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005