Pubdate: Wed, 03 Apr 2002
Source: Wilmington Morning Star (NC)
Copyright: 2002 Wilmington Morning Star
Contact:  http://www.wilmingtonstar.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/500
Author: Robert Sharpe

NO TO ONE STRIKE

EDITOR:

Wilmington public housing residents have good reason to oppose the 
"one-strike, you're out" policy of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development.

The zero-tolerance law requires that entire families be evicted from public 
housing if anyone, even a guest, uses drugs. The youthful indiscretions of 
a rebellious teen-ager could result in homelessness for an entire family. 
... Zero tolerance has done little other than create a massive 
prison-industrial complex. Based on findings that criminal records do more 
harm than marijuana, a majority of European Union countries have 
decriminalized pot. Despite harsh penalties and perhaps because of 
forbidden fruit appeal, lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S. 
than any European country. The failed drug war threatens the integrity of a 
country founded on the concept of limited government. The alleged "Land of 
the Free" now has the highest incarceration rate in the world. It's simply 
not possible to wage a moralistic war against consensual vices unless 
privacy is completely eliminated, along with the U.S. Constitution. America 
can either be a free country or a "drug-free" country, but not both.

Robert Sharpe

Program Officer Drug Policy Alliance Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens