USING COMMON SENSE IN DRUG WAR

AFGHANISTAN profits from the opium trade because of drug prohibition,
not in spite of it (op ed, Dec. 18). Attempts to limit the supply of
drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability
of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in
street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity
to feed desperate habits.

The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels it. Heroin produced in
Afghanistan is primarily consumed in Europe, a continent already
experimenting with harm-reduction alternatives to the drug war.
Switzerland's heroin maintenance trials have been shown to reduce
drug-related disease, death, and crime. Addicts would not be sharing
needles if not for zero-tolerance laws that restrict access to clean
syringes, nor would they be committing crimes if not for inflated
black-market prices.

Heroin maintenance pilot projects are underway in Canada, Germany,
Spain, and the Netherlands. If expanded, prescription heroin
maintenance would deprive organized crime of a core client base and
render illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable.

ROBERT SHARPE

Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.