DRUG COURTS BENEFIT USERS, TAXPAYERS

Federal funding for drug courts in Greenup and Lewis Counties will benefit
problem drug users, their families and taxpayers. A study conducted by the
RAND Corporation found that every additional dollar invested in substance
abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.46 in societal costs.

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 the 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.

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.
The tough-on-drugs approach only compounds the problem by forcing problem
drug users to suffer in silence.

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A.

Program Officer

Drug Policy Alliance

Washington, D.C.