Pubdate: Fri, 03 Jan 2014 Source: Times-Tribune, The (Scranton PA) Copyright: 2014 Townnews.com Contact: http://www.thetimes-tribune.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4440 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n619/a08.html PASS PEACE PIPE Editor: The common theme among recipients of mandatory minimum prison sentences described in George Will's Dec. 26 column is consensual drug transactions between willing buyers and sellers. The war on some drugs has had a profound impact on this country. The alleged Land of the Free now has the highest incarceration rate in the world. At a cost of over $30,000 per inmate annually, this is big government at its worst. Prisons transmit violent habits and values rather than reduce them. Most nonviolent drug offenders are eventually released, with dismal job prospects due to criminal records. Turning nonviolent drug offenders into hardened criminals is a senseless waste of tax dollars. 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 it is. ROBERT SHARPE POLICY ANALYST, COMMON SENSE FOR DRUG POLICY, WASHINGTON, D.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom