DRUG ABUSE BAD; DRUG WAR IS WORSE

That drug czar Frank Melton doesn't have law enforcement credentials is not
necessarily a bad thing. Overemphasis on law enforcement solutions to
public health problems results in needless deaths. Drug users are reluctant
to seek medical attention.

Rehabilitation is also confounded. Turnout at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings
would be rather low if alcoholism were a crime pursued with zero-tolerance
zeal.

Eliminating the stigma and penalties associated with illicit drug abuse
would facilitate rehabilitation and save lives.

Unfortunately, tough-on-drugs politicians have built careers on confusing
drug prohibition's collateral damage with drugs themselves. When politics
trumps science, people die. Centers for Disease Control researchers
estimate that 57 percent of AIDS cases among women and 36 percent of
overall AIDS cases in the U.S. are linked to injection drug use or sex with
partners who inject drugs.

This easily preventable public health crisis is a direct result of
zero-tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes.

Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse.

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