JAILING DRUG USERS IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE

To The Editor: Susan Hanley Lane is to be commended for making the
case for alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders.
A study conducted by the RAND Corporation 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.

Not only do the children lose out, but society as a whole does too.
Incarcerating nonviolent 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. Destroying the futures and families of citizens
who make unhealthy choices doesn't benefit anyone. Drug abuse is bad,
but the drug war is worse.

Robert Sharpe

Washington

Robert Sharpe is policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy,
headquartered in Washington.