NATION'S MISGUIDED POLICY ON DRUGS SEEMS STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO VIETNAM

The following guest column was written by Clark Brittain of Bloomington.

In the late 1960s, presidents Johnson and Nixon faced bitter debate about
guns versus butter regarding the expenses for a growing military war in
Vietnam versus desired social program support: should we continue to pour
huge amounts of money into a war no one but the politicians seemed to want,
that killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of American and Vietnamese
people, that has no clear objective or end point; or "retreat" and direct
dollars into social programs that improve the quality of life of families
in American?

Today in America we have a similar debate: we are pouring vast amounts of
money into a war on drugs that only the politicians seem to want,
disrupting hundreds of thousands of families, creating an environment
(black market) that creates violence no one wants, and creating the largest
gulag of prisoners on the planet. We have more 2 million prisoners in state
and federal prisons, about 700,000 are drug-related - most for non-violent
possession, use or sale.

This "war," like the war in Vietnam, has no clear or defined goal, no
national will or purpose and no end point. We spend about $25,000 per year
per incarceration ($50 billion annually) and many thousands more per year
per convict for those on parole and detention. DEA, FBI, INS and more than
two dozen other federal agencies have additional billions invested annually
in prosecuting this "war."

Drug use is a $600 billion industry annually. This in addition to all the
incarceration, interdiction and eradication expense. In spite of this
obscene expenditure, drug use has not decreased, become less available, or
decreased production, even as interdiction/eradication increases.

Drugs remain ever more available to our youth, and continue to profit not
only criminal cartels, but corrupt civil authority, clog our courts, and
over burden our judicial system. Eradication only creates incentives to
produce drugs elsewhere, and all eradication efforts result in increases in
production. Interdiction only captures a small percentage of drug product.
In spite of this officials loudly proclaim "success."

Recently, our local citizens were treated to a particularly disturbing
trend in local political decision making. "Guns versus butter." The Monroe
County Council decided to increase funding for the county jail, and
decrease funding for the local ambulance service. (It later reversed its
decision and approved funding for the service.)

We have an ambulance service that serves about 125,000 people for
life-and-death matters. Most consider this an essential service. There are
valid arguments about private versus public funding, but most people want
emergency medical care and transport services in the community.

Our county jail serves about the same population. Jail is intended to
remove people we fear from civil society. The problem is most of the people
in jail are those at whom we are simply mad, not afraid. This extracts an
enormous burden as outlined above. Yet our elected officials continue to
pursue a policy of impoverished opportunities for deflecting drug use in
our communities - incarceration, and occasionally enforced treatment - both
doomed to fail.

What we as a community desperately need are: education and
decriminalization/legalization of drug use. Education must include:
"cognitive models" - this assumes rational people will make rational
decisions to use or not use drugs if given true information about drugs;
"affective education" - concentrating on personal and social development,
stressing decision making, effective communication and assertiveness; and
"social learning theory" - based on the concept that people learn behaviors
through modeling, reinforcement by peers and environment, and by community
standards and practices. Once these factors are discovered, behavior can be
guided and changed by applying them in a positive manner. Prohibition will
always lead to black markets controlled by criminal elements. We must end
prohibition.

Driving a vehicle without buckling your seat belt is the most dangerous
activity an individual is likely to encounter on a daily basis. This is
deemed a "criminal" activity and if found out by police a fine of $25 is
levied. Smoking marijuana is from a medical perspective not dangerous, and
even life-saving for those with certain intractable diseases. Yet if found
out by police could result in very long prison sentences. And in fact our
local jail is full of such people, and those who only want to "feel better."

Do we as a society want our tax dollars spent on incarcerating a medical
marijuana patient or pot head, or put to much better use: such as
supporting emergency medical care in the community? Guns? Butter? The
choice seems clear.