METH TREATMENT WOULD SAVE LIVES, TAX DOLLARS

How should Indiana respond to the growing use of methamphetamine? During
the crack epidemic of the 1980s, New York City chose the zero-tolerance
approach, opting to arrest and prosecute as many offenders as possible.
Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was smoking crack and
America's capital had the highest per-capita murder rate in the country.
Yet crack use declined in both cities simultaneously.

Simply put, the younger generation saw firsthand what crack was doing to
older brothers and sisters and decided that crack was bad news. That
doesn't mean nothing can be done about methamphetamine. Access to drug
treatment is critical for meth users. Diverting resources from prisons and
into cost-effective treatment would save both tax dollars and lives.

Robert Sharpe

Policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy

Arlington, Va.