SENSELESS EVICTION ORDER

Your May 6 editorial on a Durham public housing resident's close call
highlighted one of the more glaring examples of out-of-control zero
tolerance. The "one-strike, you're out" policy of the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development requires that entire families be evicted from
public housing if anyone, even a guest, uses drugs.

The youthful indiscretions of a rebellious teen-ager could result in
homelessness for an entire family. According to a survey by Monitoring the
Future, more than half of all high school seniors have tried an illegal
drug at least once. Exposing 50 percent of all families living in public
housing to the dangers of living on the street is not the answer to
America's drug problem.

Fortunately for Jackie Kersey, a Durham magistrate and a District Court
judge had the good sense to overturn a senseless eviction. Drug abuse is
bad, but the zero tolerance drug war is worse.

The writer is a program officer at the Drug Policy Alliance in Washington, D.C.

ROBERT SHARPE Washington, D.C. May 11, 2002