Pubdate: Sat, 18 Jun 2011 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Copyright: 2011 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper Contact: http://www.chron.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n390/a10.html NO CHANGE HERE Regarding "Hard stuff; Get real about dealing with illegal drugs" (Page B11, Tuesday), don't look to the Obama administration for change. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy immediately rejected the high-profile Global Commission on Drug Policy call for reform and defended the "balanced drug control efforts" of the federal government. These so-called balanced efforts have given the land of the free the highest incarceration rate in the world. Prohibition-related violence has caused upward of 35,000 deaths in Mexico over the past four years. Despite criminal penalties, the U.S. has higher rates of drug use than European Union countries like Portugal that have decriminalized. With national debt soaring, we can no longer afford to throw good money after bad drug policy. Robert Sharpe, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom