DOUBLE STANDARD HURTS CHILDREN

Janet Weaver's thoughtful column Sunday ("Happy ending gone; let's talk
about why") raised awareness of an often-overlooked aspect of the drug
war's collateral damage, which is that children are victimized by their
parent's arrest. 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.

Prisons transmit violent habits. Incarcerating recreational drug users
alongside violent criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a
taxpayer-funded education in criminal behavior. Nonviolent drug offenders
are eventually released, with dismal job opportunities due to criminal
records. Instead of turning drug users into unemployable ex-cons, we should
be funding cost-effective drug treatment.

At present there is a glaring double standard in place. Alcohol and tobacco
are by far the deadliest recreational drugs, yet the government does not
waste scarce resources destroying the lives of drinkers and smokers.
Imagine if every alcoholic were thrown in jail and given a permanent
criminal record. How many lives would be destroyed? How many families would
be torn apart? How many tax dollars would be wasted turning potentially
productive members of society into hardened criminals?

ROBERT SHARPE
Program Officer
Drug Policy Alliance
Washington, D.C.