DRUG TREATMENT IS CRITICAL FOR METH USERS

Yvonne Schoff's Oct. 3rd letter to the editor on the growing use of
amphetamine in B.C. brought to mind the crack epidemic the United States
experienced during the ' 80s.

New York City chose the zero tolerance approach, opting to arrest and
incarcerate as many offenders as possible.

Meanwhile, Washington DC Mayor Marion Barry was smoking crack and the U.S.
capital had the highest per capita murder rate in the country.

Yet crack use declined in both cities simultaneously.

The decline was not due to any slick anti-drug advertising campaign or the
passage of mandatory minimum drug laws. Simply put, the younger generation
saw firsthand what crack was doing to their older siblings and decided for
themselves that crack was bad news.

This is not to say that nothing can be done about meth. Access to drug
treatment is critical for the current generation of meth users.

In order to protect future generations from drugs like meth policymakers
need to adopt the Canadian Senate's common sense recommendation regarding
marijuana regulation.

As the most popular illicit drug, marijuana currently provides the black
market contacts that introduce consumers to hard drugs.

This "gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy.

Marijuana may be relatively harmless, but marijuana prohibition is deadly.

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A.

Drug Policy Alliance

Washington, DC