DRUG OFFENDERS NEED TREATMENT, NOT PRISON

The St. Louis County Drug Court mentioned in a recent article is definitely
a step in the right direction, but an arrest should not be a necessary
prerequisite for treatment. The zero tolerance approach to illicit drugs
compounds the problem. 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 them with criminal records 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 that coerced treatment relies upon can backfire when
it's actually put to use. Prisons transmit violent habits and values rather
than reduce them. Most drug offenders are eventually released, with dismal
job prospects because of criminal records. Turning nonviolent drug
offenders into hardened criminals is a senseless waste of tax dollars.

There is a glaring double standard in place. Alcohol and tobacco are by far
the two deadliest recreational drugs, yet government does not make it their
business to actively destroy the lives of drinkers and smokers. 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.

Robert Sharpe

Washington, D.C.

The writer is program officer for the Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy
Foundation in Washington.