DRUG INITIATIVE DOESN'T MAKE SENSE

A new Drug Enforcement Administration initiative in Mobile and Prichard
allegedly blends "enforcement with treatment." But using the criminal
justice system to deal with drug abuse makes as much sense as using a
baseball bat to fix a broken bone.

Enforcement and treatment are mutually exclusive. Would alcoholics seek
help for their illness if doing so were tantamount to confessing to
criminal activity? Likewise, would putting every incorrigible alcoholic
behind bars prove cost-effective?

The United States recently earned the dubious distinction of having the
highest incarceration rate in the world, with drug offenses accounting for
the majority of federal incarcerations. This is big government at its
worst. At an average cost of $25,071 per inmate annually, maintaining the
world's largest prison system can hardly be considered fiscally conservative.

The threat of prison that coerced treatment relies upon can backfire when
it's actually put to use. Prisons transmit violent habits and values rather
than reduce them. Minor drug offenders are eventually released, with dismal
job prospects due to criminal records. Turning drug users into unemployable
ex-cons is a senseless waste of tax dollars.

Alcohol and tobacco are by far the deadliest recreational drugs, yet the
government does not go out of its way to destroy the lives of drinkers and
smokers. Imagine if every alcoholic were thrown in jail and given a
permanent criminal record. How many lives would be destroyed? How many
families torn apart? How many tax dollars would be wasted turning
potentially productive members of society into hardened criminals?

ROBERT SHARPE

Program Officer

Drug Policy Alliance

Washington, D.C.