Pubdate: Wed, 08 Jun 2011
Source: Merritt Herald (CN BC)
Copyright: 2011 Merritt Herald
Contact:  http://www.merrittherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1446
Author: Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

DRUG WAR NOT THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO SOLVE ISSUE

Dear Editor,

Regarding Dean Morrison's thoughtful June 2, editorial, the U.S. drug
war has done little other than give the land of the free the highest
incarceration rate in the world.

Drug prohibition finances organized crime at home and terrorism
abroad, which is then used to justify increased drug war spending.

It's time to end this madness.

Thanks to public education efforts, legal tobacco use has declined
considerably in recent years. Apparently mandatory minimum prison
sentences, civil asset forfeiture, random drug testing and racial
profiling are not necessarily the most cost-effective means of
discouraging unhealthy choices. Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is
worse.

Sincerely,

Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC United States of America 
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.