Students will bring drug prohibition to its knees

Kris Krane, SSDP's executive director, had the following great letter to the editor published in today's New York Times.

New York Drug Laws

Published: March 20, 2006

To the Editor

Re "When It Comes to Drug Laws, the Jokes End," by Clyde Haberman (NYC column, March 14):

More than two decades after President Reagan led the nation into a new "war on drugs," the city's special narcotics prosecutor, Bridget G. Brennan, has finally admitted that we can't "incarcerate our way out of the drug problem." Yet few public officials are willing to propose any sensible solutions to this seemingly intractable problem.

It's time for a new direction in drug policy from all levels of government. Increasingly harsh criminal penalties have failed to protect young people from the dangers of drug addiction. No drug known to man becomes less dangerous to the user or society when its production and distribution are left to criminals and cartels.

Violent crimes associated with drug prohibition could be avoided if government would step in and regulate the market.

Kris Krane
Washington, March 15, 2006
The writer is the executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

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