NEVER-ENDING DRUG WAR

Juneau's hazardous methamphetamine labs are reminiscent of the deadly
exploding liquor stills that sprung up throughout the nation during alcohol
prohibition. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given
rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for
age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for
protecting the children.

Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. 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 meth, 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.

There are cost-effective alternatives to never-ending drug war. Despite
dramatically lower per capita spending on the drug problem, the Netherlands
has successfully reduced overall drug use by replacing marijuana
prohibition with adult regulation. Dutch rates of drug use are lower than
U.S. rates in every category.

Separating the hard and soft drug markets and establishing age controls for
marijuana has proven more effective than zero tolerance. Here in the U.S.,
marijuana provides the black market contacts that introduce consumers to
addictive drugs like meth. This "gateway" is the direct result of a
fundamentally flawed policy.

Given that marijuana is arguably safer than legal alcohol - pot has never
been shown to cause an overdose death - it makes no sense to waste tax
dollars on failed policies that finance organized crime and facilitate the
use of hard drugs. Drug policy reform may send the wrong message to
children, but I like to think the children are more important than the message.

Recent figures can be found at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm

Robert Sharpe

Drug Policy Alliance Washington, D.C. http://www.drugpolicy.org/