THE THREAT OF PRISON DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK

The drug court program mentioned in your Jan. 14 editorial on alternatives
to incarceration is definitely a step in the right direction, but an arrest
should not be a necessary prerequisite for drug treatment.

Would alcoholics seek treatment for their illness if doing so were
tantamount to confessing to criminal activity?

Likewise, would putting every incorrigible alcoholic behind bars and
saddling him with a criminal record prove cost-effective?

The United States recently earned the dubious distinction of having the
highest incarceration rate in the world, with drug offenses accounting for
the majority of federal incarcerations. This is big government at its
worst. At an average cost of $25,071 per inmate annually, maintaining the
world's largest prison system can hardly be considered fiscally conservative.

The threat of prison upon which coerced drug treatment relies can backfire
when it's actually put to use. As noted in your excellent editorial,
prisons transmit violent habits and values rather than reduce them. Most
nonviolent drug offenders are eventually released, with dismal job
prospects due to criminal records.

Turning recreational drug users into hardened criminals is a senseless
waste of tax dollars.

Robert Sharpe
Program officer, The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation,
Washington, D.C.