Pubdate: Sun, 31 Aug 2014
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2014 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n705/a13.html

DRUG WAR DOESN'T FIGHT CRIME - IT FUELS IT

Regarding Jack Cole's Aug. 24 op-ed ("Want to stop overdoses? End the
prohibition of heroin"): Drug prohibition is indeed part of the
problem. Attempts to eliminate the supply of street heroin while
demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug
trafficking. For addictive drugs such as heroin, a spike in street
prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed
their habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime; it fuels crime.

Switzerland's heroin maintenance program has been shown to reduce
drug-related disease, death, and crime among chronic users by
providing standardized doses in a clinical setting. The success of the
Swiss program has inspired heroin maintenance pilot projects in
Canada, Germany, Spain, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

If expanded, prescription heroin maintenance would deprive organized
crime of a core client base. This would render illegal heroin
trafficking unprofitable and spare future generations from addiction.

Putting public health before politics may send the wrong message to
children, but I like to think the children are more important than the
message.

Robert Sharpe

Policy analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Arlington, Va.
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