TIME TO DECLARE PEACE IN THE FAILED DRUG WAR

Op-Ed writer Jon Shure's "Changing drug-free zone laws makes sense" (Other
Views, Dec. 15) was right on target.

New Jersey is not the only state grappling with overcrowded prisons.
Throughout the nation, states facing budget shortfalls are pursuing
alternatives to incarceration for non-violent drug offenders. A RAND Corp.
study found that every additional dollar invested in substance abuse
treatment saves taxpayers $7.48 in societal costs.

There is far more at stake than tax dollars. The drug war is not the
promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of
inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and
delinquency.

Society as a whole loses out, too. Incarcerating non-violent drug offenders
alongside hardened criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a
taxpayer-funded education in anti-social behavior. Turning drug users into
unemployable ex-cons 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

Arlington, Va., Dec. 15

The writer is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy, an
advocacy group.