DRUG PEDDLING

Regarding your July 20 editorial: "Operation Broken Needle" did not "make
the peddling of illegal drugs on our streets less profitable." The drug war
is not exempt from immutable laws of supply and demand. Drugs were recently
taken off Charleston streets, but with drug problems among residents left
intact, addicts are now forced to pay higher prices. The resulting increase
in local crime will no doubt be labeled "drug-related." Prohibition-related
is a more accurate term.

With alcohol prohibition repealed, liquor bootleggers no longer gun each
other down in drive-by shootings, nor do consumers go blind drinking
unregulated bathtub gin. While U.S. politicians ignore the drug war's
historical precedent, European countries are embracing harm reduction. Harm
reduction is a public health alternative based on the principle that both
drug use and drug prohibition have the potential to cause harm.

Examples include needle exchanges to stop the spread of HIV, marijuana
regulation aimed at separating the hard and soft drug markets, and
treatment alternatives that do not require incarceration as a prerequisite.
Unfortunately, fear of appearing "soft on crime" compels U.S. politicians
to support a failed drug war that ultimately subsidizes organized crime.
Instead of providing price supports for drug cartels, we should be funding
cost-effective drug treatment.

ROBERT SHARPE, M.P.A.

Program Officer, Drug Policy Alliance

925 15th Street, NW

Washington, D.C.