Pubdate: Fri, 10 Jun 2011 Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL) Copyright: 2011 Sun-Times Media, LLC Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/5QwXAJWY Website: http://www.suntimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81 Author: Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n375/a01.html UNWISE DRUG POLICIES Regarding Jesse Jackson's June 6 column ["It's time to end dismally failed 'war on drugs'], don't look to the Obama administration for change. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy immediately rejected the high-profile Global Commission on Drug Policy call for reform and defended the "balanced drug control efforts" of the federal government. These "balanced" efforts have given the land of the free the highest incarceration rate in the world. Prohibition-related violence has caused upward of 35,000 deaths in Mexico over the past four years. Despite criminal penalties, the United States has higher rates of drug use than European Union countries like Portugal that have decriminalized. With national debt soaring, we can no longer afford to throw good money after bad drug policy. Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.