Pubdate: Mon, 25 Nov 2002
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2002 The Charlotte Observer
Contact:  http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/78
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2097/a01.html
Author: Robert Sharpe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

FAMILIES HELPED BY DRUG TREATMENT, NOT PRISON

The writer is program officer, Drug Policy Alliance.

In response to "Courts to require treatment for addicts" (Nov. 13):

Mecklenburg is to be commended for using drug treatment to help keep 
families together. A study conducted by the RAND Corp. found that every 
dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.46 in 
societal costs.

There is far more at stake than tax dollars. The drug war is not the 
promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of 
inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and 
delinquency. Not only do the children lose out, but society as a whole 
does, too. Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders alongside hardened 
criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded 
education in criminal behavior.

Turning drug users into unemployable ex-cons is a senseless waste of tax 
dollars. 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
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