DRUG COURT TO DRUG WAR

Pahrump's new drug court is definitely a step in the right direction, but
an arrest should not be a necessary prerequisite for drug treatment. 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 and saddling them with criminal records 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?

Sincerely,

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A., Program Officer

Drug Policy Alliance, Arlington, VA 22207