NEW PROGRAM PRAISED

To the Editor:

The Lauderdale County Community Corrections and Punishment Authority is to
be commended for introducing much-needed alternatives to incarceration. With
violent crime continuing along a downward trend, the drug war is the
principal reason the U.S. now has the highest incarceration rate in the
world.

A study conducted by the RAND Corporation 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
along side 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.
Destroying the futures and families of citizens who make unhealthy choices
doesn't benefit anyone.

Robert Sharpe
Drug Policy Alliance
Washington, D.C.