Pubdate: Fri, 23 Sep 2005
Source: Similkameen Spotlight (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Similkameen Spotlight
Contact:  http://www.similkameenspotlight.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3484
Author: Clifford Schaffer
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1431/a04.html?118766

LONG SENTENCES WON'T WORK

Editor:

If John Martin thinks long prison sentences will solve the meth problem, he 
needs only to look at the United States to see the folly of that.

We have the biggest prisons in the world, with more people incarcerated for 
drug offences than Europe has total prisoners -- even though the European 
Union has about 50 per cent more people than the U.S.If he will pick up a 
copy of one of the recent issues of Newsweek, he will see a full cover 
story decrying the latest "meth epidemic."

Obviously, the biggest prisons on the planet didn't solve this problem and 
Canada can't afford the biggest prisons on the planet.

The truth is the "meth epidemic" isn't the truth. Meth is nothing new and 
has been around since before the "Speed Kills" slogans of the 1960s. 
Overall, there is little evidence that rates of meth use are much different 
than they have been for decades.

What there is evidence of is a concerted mediaefpowers and toys for cops. 
Go to any law-enforcement site on the Internet that has a page on the meth 
crisis. Look at their first recommended solution. It will always be "more 
money for cops."

That is the complete explanation for the current "meth crisis."

Clifford Schaffer,

Director DRCNet Online Library of Drug Policy http://www.druglibrary.org 
Agua Dulce, California
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom