FAMILIES HELPED BY DRUG TREATMENT, NOT PRISON

The writer is program officer, Drug Policy Alliance.

In response to "Courts to require treatment for addicts" (Nov. 13):

Mecklenburg is to be commended for using drug treatment to help keep
families together. A study conducted by the RAND Corp. found that every
dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.46 in
societal costs.

There is far more at stake than tax dollars. The drug war is not the
promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of
inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and
delinquency. Not only do the children lose out, but society as a whole
does, too. Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders alongside hardened
criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded
education in criminal behavior.

Turning drug users into unemployable ex-cons is a senseless waste of tax
dollars. It's time to declare peace in the failed drug war and begin
treating all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health
problem it is.

Robert Sharpe