Pubdate: Mon, 16 Apr 2012
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2012 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Julie Stewart
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n211/a02.html

SHORT OF LEGALIZING HARD DRUGS

I applaud George F. Will for raising all the right questions about 
the efficacy of our nation's drug prohibitionist policies ["The 
benefits of legalizing drugs,' " op-ed, April 12]. Reasonable people 
can disagree about whether drugs should be legalized, and when it 
comes to marijuana, polls reveal that our country is evenly divided.

What is not reasonable, however, is to keep in place our 25-year-old 
punishment scheme for drug crimes. Passed in the mid-1980s, mandatory 
minimum sentencing laws continue to send first-time and low-level 
drug offenders to prison for excessive terms. Even those who continue 
to support drug prohibition (and prison terms for the worst 
offenders) should be able to see the wisdom of scaling back these 
financially and socially costly laws.

Julie Stewart, Washington

The writer is president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums.
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