Pubdate: Mon, 04 Apr 2011 Source: Wichita Eagle (KS) Copyright: 2011 The Wichita Eagle Contact: http://www.kansas.com/604 Website: http://www.kansas.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/680 Author: Robert Sharpe END WAR ON DRUGS Support for the drug war would end overnight if whites were incarcerated for drug offenses at the same rate as minorities ("War on drugs has been a disaster," Aug. 1 Opinion). Racially disproportionate incarceration rates are not the only cause for alarm. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders with hardened criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in anti-social behavior. Declare peace in the failed drug war and begin treating all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health problem it is. Thanks to public education efforts, legal tobacco use has steadily declined, without any need to criminalize smokers. Mandatory minimum prison sentences, civil asset forfeiture, random drug testing and racial profiling are not the most cost-effective means of discouraging unhealthy choices. ROBERT SHARPE Policy analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom