Pubdate: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 Source: Baltimore Sun (MD) Copyright: 2006 The Baltimore Sun, a Times Mirror Newspaper. Contact: http://www.baltimoresun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n1737/a02.html Author: Robert Sharpe THE WAR ON DRUGS HURTS BLACK MEN U.S. government statistics confirm that the drug war is being waged in a racist manner ("Young black men need help," Opinion * Commentary, Dec. 24). According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, only 15 percent of the nation's drug users are black. But according to U.S. Justice Department figures, African-Americans account for 37 percent of those arrested for drug violations, more than 42 percent of those in federal prisons for drug violations and almost 60 percent of those in state prisons for drug felonies. Support for the drug war would end overnight if whites were incarcerated for drugs at the same rate that minority drug users are. Racially disproportionate incarceration rates are not the only cause for alarm. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. And incarcerating non-violent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in anti-social behavior. It's time to declare peace in the failed drug war and begin treating all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health problem that it is. Robert Sharpe Arlington, Va. The writer is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman