DRUG WAR DOESN'T FIGHT CRIME, IT FUELS IT

The anti-drug efforts of the Dorchester County Sheriff's Interstate
Criminal Enforcement Team are no doubt well-intended, but ultimately
counterproductive. So-called drug-related crime is invariably
prohibition-related. 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 heroin, 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. In Europe,
the Netherlands has successfully reduced overall drug use by replacing
marijuana prohibition with adult regulation. Dutch rates of drug use are
significantly 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 United States, 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 -- the plant 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 themselves are more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A., Program Officer Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, DC
20005