Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jan 2006
Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
Copyright: 2006 The Salt Lake Tribune
Contact:  http://www.sltrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/383
Author: Robert Sharpe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

TREATMENT, NOT PRISON

How should Utah respond to the growing use of methamphetamine? 
("Methamphetamines: Insidious drug requires a different approach," 
Our View, Jan. 11).

During the crack epidemic of the '80s, New York City chose the zero 
tolerance approach, opting to arrest and prosecute as many offenders 
as possible. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was 
smoking crack, and America's capital had the highest per-capita 
murder rate in the country. Yet crack use declined in both cities 
simultaneously. Simply put, the younger generation saw firsthand what 
crack was doing to their older brothers and sisters and decided for 
themselves that it was bad news. This is not to say nothing can be 
done about methamphetamine. Access to drug treatment is critical for 
the current generation of meth users. Diverting resources away from 
prisons and into cost-effective treatment would save both tax dollars 
and lives. The following U.S. Department of Justice research brief 
confirms my claims regarding the spontaneous decline of crack 
cocaine: http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles1 /nij/187490.txt

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C. 
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman