Pubdate: Thu, 27 Nov 2008 Source: Santa Ynez Valley Journal (CA) Copyright: 2008 Santa Ynez Valley Journal Contact: http://www.santaynezvalleyjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4847 Author: Robert Sharpe, MPA - Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy DRUG LAWS NOT HELPING THINGS There is a middle ground between drug prohibition and blanket legalization. Switzerland's heroin maintenance program has been shown to reduce disease, death and crime among chronic users. Providing addicts with standardized doses in a clinical setting eliminates many of the problems associated with heroin use. 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 artificially inflated black market prices. The success of Switzerland's heroin maintenance program has inspired pilot programs in Canada, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. If expanded, prescription heroin maintenance would deprive organized crime of a core client base. This would render illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and spare future generations addiction. Marijuana should be taxed and regulated like alcohol, only without the ubiquitous advertising. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as marijuana distribution is controlled by organized crime, consumers of the most popular illicit drug will continue to come into contact with sellers of addictive drugs like cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. Given that marijuana is arguably safer than legal alcohol - the plant has never been shown to cause an overdose death - it makes no sense to waste scarce resources on failed policies that finance organized crime and facilitate the use of hard drugs. Drug policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think the children are more important than the message. Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy Arlington, Va. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin