NATION'S FAILED DRUG WAR IS WASTING OUR TAX DOLLARS

Roger Hopper is to be commended for helping Chatham County inmates overcome
drug addiction ("Drug counselor pushes inmates to change," July 22).

It's unfortunate that an arrest is often a necessary prerequisite for drug
treatment. Toning down the tough-on-drugs rhetoric would help facilitate
rehabilitation.

I think it's safe to say that turnout at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings
would be rather low if alcoholism were a crime pursued with zero-tolerance
zeal.

A study conducted by the RAND Corp. found that every additional dollar
invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.46 in societal
costs. But 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 those children lose
out, but society as a whole does, too.

Incarcerating non-violent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals is
the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in
anti-social behavior. Turning non-violent drug offenders 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.

ROBERT SHARPE
Program Officer
Drug Policy Alliance
Arlington, Va.