Letters to the Editor

More treatment

While mandatory treatment for nonviolent drug-dependent offenders is clearly preferable to incarceration, it is a misguided response to the fundamental problem of addiction for several reasons ("Compassionate approach to fighting drugs in N.J.," Tuesday). First, treatment access in general is underfunded and unavailable to the majority of people who seek it. It is perverse that we are promoting a system in which someone must get arrested before we agree to help them.

In addition, most court-mandated treatments respond to incidents of relapse with legal sanctions, such as jail time, which ironically penalizes an individual for displaying a symptom of the disease that qualified him or her for admittance to the program in the first place. This perpetuates a system in which those with the most serious drug problems, and therefore the most in need of help, are more likely to "fail" the program.

Although legally coerced treatment undoubtedly helps many people who struggle with addiction, studies have shown that it is no more effective than treatment in the community, which relies on voluntary enrollment and costs even less. New Jersey would be better off taking steps to ensure that this treatment is available on demand, so that people have the opportunity to address their substance use before they are forced into the criminal justice system.

Elizabeth Thompson, policy associate, New Jersey Drug Policy Alliance, Trenton

Unfair tax cut

If you planned to reduce New Jersey's tax income, would you cut a progressive tax (income tax) or a regressive property tax ("Christie: Fight with Dems is now about cuts," Friday)? Don't forget that folks on fixed incomes and the elderly pay an unfair share of taxes, while Gov. Christie's proposal to cut taxes by 10 percent across the board would forgive taxes for all, including those who can afford to pay. This is entirely wrong. We've heard plenty about top earners leaving the state due to high income taxes, but what about the stream of regular folks leaving the state due to high property taxes? Why do we elect these people?

Ed Devinney, Delanco

Christie on rights