Pubdate: Mon, 30 Dec 2013
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2013 Robert Sharpe
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n619/a02.html

A FAILED DRUG WAR

The common theme among recipients of mandatory minimum prison
sentences described in George F. Will's Dec. 26 op-ed column,
"Sledgehammer justice," is consensual drug transactions between buyers
and sellers. The war on some drugs has had a profound impact on this
country. The "land of the free" now has the highest incarceration rate
in the world. At a cost of more than $30,000 per inmate annually, this
is big government at its worst.

Prisons transmit violent habits rather than reduce them. Most
nonviolent drug offenders are eventually released, with dismal job
prospects because of their criminal records. Turning nonviolent drug
offenders into hardened criminals is a senseless waste of tax dollars.
It's time to declare peace in the failed drug war and begin treating
all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health problem
it is.

Robert Sharpe, Washington

The writer is a policy analyst at Common Sense for Drug
Policy.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D