REHABILITATION, NOT INCARCERATION

Kudos to The Journal for making the case for rehabilitation instead of
incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders (``Rehabilitation," editorial,
Feb. 8).

The drug war's burden on taxpayers gets higher every year as ever more drug
users and dealers are incarcerated for consensual vices. Drug use continues
unabated as replacement dealers immediately step in to reap inflated
illicit market profits. At an annual cost of roughly $25,000 per inmate,
the punitive approach to minor drug offenses is simply not sustainable.

The option of treatment instead of incarceration for nonviolent drug
offenders will do more than just save taxpayers money. 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. Non-violent drug
offenders are eventually released, with dismal job opportunities due to
criminal records.

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
actively attempt to destroy 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.