Pubdate: Wed, 18 Apr 2001
Source: Brown Daily Herald, The (RI)
Copyright: 2001 The Brown Daily Herald
Contact:  http://www.browndailyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/727
Author: Robert Sharpe, http://www.mapinc.org/writers/Robert+Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n659/a13.html
Note: Robert's PUB LTEs have passed the 200 mark! He has also made some 
suggestions for having LTEs published at
http://www.mapinc.org/resource/tips.htm

DRUG PROHIBITION RESPONSIBLE FOR CRIME, CORRUPTION, OVERDOSES

To the Editor:

Kudos to Daniel Brody for an excellent column on the societal harm caused 
by the
war on some drugs ("Criminalization of drugs causes more harm than good," April
12). The crime, corruption, and overdose deaths attributed to illegal drugs 
are all
direct results of drug prohibition. With Prohibition repealed, alcohol 
producers no
longer gun each down in drive-by shootings, nor do consumers go blind drinking
unregulated bathtub gin. Attempts to limit thesupply of illegal drugs while 
demand
remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. In 
terms of
addictive drugs like heroin, a temporary rise in street prices leads desperate
addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits.

Make no mistake, the drug war doesn't fight crime - it fuels crime.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, injection
drug use has directly and indirectly accounted for 58 percent of all
AIDS cases among women in the United States. This public health crisis
is a direct result of zero tolerance policies that restrict access to
clean syringes.

As far as drug treatment is concerned, law enforcement's involvement
is part of the problem.

In order for drug treatment to be truly effective policymakers are
going to have to tone down the tough-on-drugs rhetoric.Would
alcoholics seek treatment 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? It's time to
stop wasting the taxpayer's money on drug policies that do more harm
than good.

Robert Sharpe, Program Officer, The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake