Pubdate: Wed, 03 May 2006
Source: Southeast Missourian (MO)
Copyright: 2006 Southeast Missourian
Contact:  http://www.semissourian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1322
Author: Robert Sharpe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

MORE FOR TREATMENT, LESS FOR PRISONS

To the editor:

How should Missouri respond to illegal methamphetamine use? During 
the crack epidemic of the 1980s, New York City chose the 
zero-tolerance approach, opting to arrest and prosecute as many users 
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, members of the younger generation saw 
firsthand what crack was doing to their older brothers and sisters 
and decided for themselves that crack was bad news.

This is not to say nothing can be done about meth. Access to drug 
treatment is critical for the current generation of meth users. 
Diverting resources away from prisons and into cost-effective 
treatment would save both tax dollars and lives.

ROBERT SHARPE,

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom