Pubdate: Wed, 16 Jan 2002 Source: Island Packet (SC) Copyright: 2002,sThe Island Packet Contact: http://www.islandpacket.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1514 Author: Robert Sharpe DRUG POLICY NEEDS CHANGE To The Packet: Thank you for raising awareness of the Higher Education Act's denial of student loans to youths convicted of drug offenses in your Jan. 11 editorial. Anyone born into a wealthy family need not fear the impact of the act. Instead of empowering at-risk students with a college degree, it limits career opportunities and increases the likelihood that those affected will resort to crime. Speaking of crime, convicted rapists and murderers are still eligible for federal student loans. As for "drug-related" crime, there is a reason liquor producers no longer terrorize cities with deadly turf battles. Alcohol prohibition ended in 1933 and with it the inflated black market profits that drove mobsters to kill each other. While U.S. politicians ignore the historical precedent, Europeans are embracing harm reduction, a public health alternative based on the principle that both drug use and drug prohibition have the potential to cause harm. The drug war's burden on American taxpayers gets higher every year as more and more drug users and dealers are incarcerated for consensual vices. Drug use continues unabated as replacement dealers immediately step in to reap outrageous black market profits. At an average cost of $25,071 per inmate annually, maintaining the highest incarceration rate in the world can hardly be considered fiscally conservative. Robert Sharpe Program Officer The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation Washington, D.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth