Pubdate: Tue, 25 Jun 2002
Source: Grand Island Independent (NE)
Copyright: 2002 Grand Island Independent
Contact:  http://www.theindependent.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1023
Author: Robert Sharpe

ARREST NOT REQUIRED FOR DRUG TREATMENT

The Central Nebraska Drug Court is definitely a step in the right 
direction, but an arrest should not be a necessary prerequisite for drug 
treatment. Would alcoholics seek help for their illness if doing so were 
tantamount to confessing to criminal activity? Likewise, would putting 
every incorrigible alcoholic behind bars and saddling them with criminal 
records prove cost-effective?

The United States recently earned the dubious distinction of having the 
highest incarceration rate in the world, with drug offenses accounting for 
the majority of federal incarcerations. This is big government at its 
worst. At an average cost of $25,071 per inmate annually, maintaining the 
world's largest prison system can hardly be considered fiscally conservative.

The threat of prison that coerced treatment relies upon can backfire when 
it's actually put to use. Prisons transmit violent habits rather than 
reduce them. Minor drug offenders are eventually released, with dismal job 
prospects due to criminal records. Turning recreational drug users into 
unemployable ex-cons is a senseless waste of tax dollars.

At present there is a glaring double standard in place. Alcohol and tobacco 
are by far the deadliest recreational drugs, yet the government does not go 
out of its way to destroy the lives of drinkers and smokers. Imagine if 
every alcoholic were thrown in jail and given a permanent criminal record. 
How many lives would be destroyed? How many families torn apart? How many 
tax dollars would be wasted turning potentially productive members of 
society into hardened criminals?

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A.

Program Officer

Drug Policy Alliance

Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Beth