Pubdate: Mon, 25 Apr 2005
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2005 Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n620/a03.html?52741

DRUG COURTS BRING ONLY MODEST REFORM

Editor, Times-Dispatch: In response to Leroy Hassell's Commentary column, 
"Drug Court Efforts Show Good Results":

Drug courts are definitely a step in the right direction, but an arrest 
should not be a necessary prerequisite for drug treatment. Would alcoholics 
seek help for their illness if doing so were tantamount to confessing to 
criminal activity? Likewise, would putting all incorrigible alcoholics 
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 $26,134 per inmate annually, maintaining the 
world's largest prison system can hardly be considered fiscally conservative.

The threat of prison that coerced drug treatment relies upon can backfire 
when it's actually put to use. Prisons transmit violent habits rather than 
reduce them. Imagine if every alcoholic were thrown in jail and given a 
permanent criminal record. How many lives would be destroyed? How many 
families torn apart? How many tax dollars would be wasted turning 
potentially productive members of society into hardened criminals?

Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy. washington, d.c.
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