Pubdate: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 Source: Beacon Journal, The (OH) Copyright: 2001 The Beacon Journal Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.ohio.com/bj/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/6 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1846/a05.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts) DRUG COURT POINTS UP DOUBLE STANDARD Akron Municipal Court Judge Marvin Shapiro is doing the right thing by giving drug offenders a second chance to get treatment ("Drug offenders offered amnesty," Akron Beacon Journal, Oct. 30). Relapse is part of recovery, and Akron's drug court is definitely a step in the right direction. But an arrest should not be a necessary prerequisite for 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 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 nonviolent drug offenders into hardened criminals is a senseless waste of tax dollars. At present, there is a glaring double standard in place. Alcohol and tobacco are the two deadliest recreational drugs, yet government does not make it its business to 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. Editor's note: The writer is program officer with the Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation, an organization that describes itself as dedicated to broadening and informing public debate on drugs. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth