DRUG MADNESS

Re: "One-size-fits-all justice; Mandatory madness grips our system," July
21 Perspective.

Bob Ewegen's thoughtful Perspective article described the typical knee-jerk
reaction of politicians who respond to each new wave of media-driven drug
hysteria by passing new mandatory minimum sentences. There is only one
clear outcome of this ratcheting, tough-on-drugs phenomenon: The land of
the free now has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

The actual impact of drug laws on rates of use is negligible. Based on
findings that criminal records are inappropriate as health interventions
and ineffective as deterrents, a majority of European Union countries have
decriminalized marijuana.

Despite harsh penalties and perhaps because of forbidden-fruit appeal,
lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than in any European country.

Sooner or later, tough-on-some-drugs politicians are going to have to wake
up to the fact that the punitive Nanny State is simply not sustainable.

ROBERT SHARPE

Washington, D.C.

The writer is a program officer for the Drug Policy Alliance.