CREATIVE IDEAS NEEDED TO STEM USE OF DRUGS

Perhaps you who read these words can help provide answers to a serious
national problem that produces an abundance of political speeches, but too
few solid answers: our "war on drugs."

It is not a war on drugs, but a skirmish. If we really had a war on drugs
we would have better solutions to what is a significant cause for alarm,
and a tragedy in the lives of too many families.

In their zeal "to do something," and to appear to be doing something,
public officials too often have abdicated studying the issue and voted for
whatever legislation sounds "tough on crime."

By voting for all "tough on crime" measures, which take away flexibility
from judges, candidates up for re-election can make great speeches to their
party rallies and to Rotary clubs and similar groups and evoke cheers, and
also avoid having an opponent run a 30-second television commercial
suggesting that he or she is soft on crime.

The nation's emphasis in the last two to three decades has been on stopping
the flow of drugs into the nation and imprisoning those found selling or
possessing drugs.

The problem with stopping the flow of drugs is that so long as demand is
high, they will come in. I'm all for stopping and confiscating every gram
we can, but we have to reduce demand in order to reduce the flow. For
example, we are spending $1.3 billion in aid to Colombia this year to stop
drugs from that nation, but if Colombia could completely halt all exports
of drugs, as long as the demand is high here and the profits huge, other
nations will step in.

We face somewhat the same problem with the incarceration answer. If one
drug kingpin is put into prison - and I favor that - so long as demand is
high, he will have eight or more people eager to take his place and risk
prison for the big profits.

For some people the answer is simple: Legalization. They point out the
example of the Prohibition experiment on alcoholic beverages 70 years ago.
But there are problems with that comparison:

* Eighty percent of those who use alcohol do not abuse it.

* Prohibition did not outlaw alcohol. If you wanted to make wine or beer
at home you could do it, but the Volstead Act outlawed selling it.

* Outlawing the sale of alcoholic beverages did reduce its consumption and
problems. Prof. Mark Moore of Harvard notes that during prohibition death
rates from cirrhosis of the liver among men dropped more than 60 percent,
and admissions to state mental hospitals for alcohol-related problems
dropped more than 50 percent.

* When the sale of alcoholic beverages became legal, consumption increased
dramatically.

In addition to legalization being unsound policy, there is no base of
public support to move in that direction.

What can we do? I have seen enough of the tragedies that drugs cause to
know that there are many in the Daily Herald readership area who have
experiences that have caused them to reflect on what should be done.

We have knowledge that we are not applying, but creative people can refine
and add to what should be done. We know:

* When employment rates go up, drug use goes down. Unfortunately since
most teenagers are not looking for work, drug consumption among teenagers
is apparently rising.

* People in prisons should be given the opportunity for drug treatment.
This is so obvious it seems ridiculous to have to mention it. Despite the
fact that a majority of prisoners are there because of drugs or
drug-related crimes, treatment programs barely exist. Cook County jail, for
example, with 9,600 prisoners, has drug treatment facilities for only 240,
with large numbers of prisoners begging for it.

Drug treatment programs should be made available for all people who want
and need it - and not after waiting on a list for six months. Instead,
because of lack of financial support, too many hospitals are dropping their
programs, and other agencies offering services are curtailing their
availability.

* Good drug education programs are needed in our schools. The obvious.

Parents should not feel awkward in talking to their children about drugs.
Becoming informed helps, but even uninformed advice is better than none.

You can improve on this list. Send your ideas in letters to the editor or
send them to me in care of the Daily Herald. I will report back to you. If
you want to remain anonymous in what I write about this, I will respect
your wishes.