Pubdate: Wed, 29 Aug 2001
Source: Bluefield Daily Telegraph (WV)
Copyright: 2001 Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Contact:  http://www.bdtonline.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1483
Author: Robert Sharpe

TREATMENT THE WAY TO HELP DRUG OFFENDERS

As noted in your thoughtful Aug. 17 editorial, one of the reasons behind 
the drop in state prison numbers is the rise in alternative programs for 
drug offenders. The full potential of these alternatives has yet to be 
realized. Drug courts are definitely a step in the right direction, but an 
arrest should not be a necessary prerequisite for drug treatment. 
Politicians are going to have to tone down the "tough on drugs" rhetoric. 
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 due to criminal records.

Turning non-violent drug offenders into hardened criminals is a senseless 
waste of tax dollars.

It's time to declare peace in the failed drug war and start treating all 
substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health problem it is.

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A., Program Officer

The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation

Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens