P-I FOCUS: TIME'S UP FOR THE WAR ON DRUGS

For decades, our society has been prosecuting and imprisoning increasing
numbers of people for possessing or selling drugs. Today, no country in the
world has so large a percentage of its population behind bars as we have,
and a major reason is our war on drugs.

But as the drug-related prison population has increased, there has not been
a corresponding decrease in problem drug use in America. In fact, problem
drug use has risen as has the devastation and misery that it brings to the
lives of the users, their families and the community. And the collateral
damage caused by our war on drugs itself has been deeply troubling. Our
response to drug use and sale has been a failure: It's time for a new
approach to break the cycle of drug abuse and its casualties.

We are not advocating the immediate dismantling of our criminal justice
system as a means of controlling the flow and use of illegal drugs and the
harm they cause unless an effective replacement system is securely
positioned in its place. Nor are we advocating that the dealers and
distributors be given a free hand to engage in their trade with impunity.

But we do want to spark an open and honest discussion about the inability
of the current criminal justice system to achieve the result that we all
want, the reduction of the damage done by drugs while not creating more
harm than the use of the drugs cause themselves.

While drug-related penalties have been drastically increasing, what is the
corresponding story on prohibited drug use? Studies recently published by
the Washington state Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse show that
while less than 9 percent of Washington residents over age 55 have used
marijuana sometime in their life, nearly 60 percent of those 18-29 year old
have tried it. For hard drugs, less than 4 percent of people over 55 have
used hard drugs at some point in their lives, but more than 35 percent of
those 18-29 have tried them. The relatively small number of hard-core drug
users (whose use poses the greatest societal problems) has remained fairly
constant in recent years. The fact that these increases in illegal use came
during a period of drastically increased penalties is only one measure of
the failure of criminal sanctions as an effective way to deter use of
illegal drugs.

In contrast to the increased use of marijuana and hard drugs during a
period when such use was punished as a crime, we have experienced a
remarkable decrease in use of tobacco and alcohol by adults. Since the
surgeon general began reporting on the health consequences of tobacco in
1964, the per capita consumption in the United States has been cut roughly
in half. This reduction was not achieved by locking up smokers.

Recent studies have documented that DARE and similar efforts supported by
the federal government to prevent youths from using "illegal" drugs have
been ineffective, and in some cases counterproductive. We have left our
young people confused or, worse, skeptical of all such messages. On the
other hand, alternative, innovative and effective prevention approaches
such as that being developed at the University of Washington are beginning
to gain national attention.

Some parents fear that reducing or eliminating criminal sanctions might
"send the wrong message" and lead their children to think that using
mind-or mood-altering drugs is acceptable. In doing so, we must provide a
safety net of credible and effective prevention programs for those who have
not used such drugs; for those who have, we must offer adequate, accessible
and effective treatment. As we move to lessen and eliminate criminal
sanctions, we must support a comprehensive education effort by parents,
teachers, peers, physicians and others respected by our children.

The "right message" our youths need to hear from messengers they respect is
that using mind-altering drugs -- whether alcohol, marijuana or other
illegal drugs -- is risky behavior that can damage their health and in some
cases destroy their lives. The right message is that too high a percentage
of the people who put drugs in their bodies will become slaves to the drug.
The right message is that the risk of addiction is significantly decreased
for those who delay their first use of drugs. The right message is that if,
despite the warnings, a young person uses drugs he or she should know the
signs of addiction and should seek treatment without fear of punishment.

It is important to encourage young people themselves to discuss the role of
peer pressure in making unwise decisions. And it is important to openly
discuss ways to reduce risks of harm if, despite the warnings, a young
person decides to put drugs in his or her body.

Physicians and others familiar with developments in drug addiction
treatment know that drug addiction is often a curable illness. Drug
treatment is "as successful as treatment of other chronic diseases such as
diabetes, hypertension and asthma," according to the National Institute of
Drug Abuse. And the costs of effective treatment are much lower than the
costs of incarceration.

During the past year, the King County Bar Association mobilized four task
forces to examine the effectiveness of our present drug policies. Scores of
lawyers, judges, doctors, drug treatment professionals and others
participated. Doubts about the failure of our approach to drugs based on a
predominantly criminal model should be dispelled by the carefully
researched findings and conclusions of the Task Force on the Use of
Criminal Sanctions, available on the Internet at www.kcba.org The
effectiveness, scarcity and limitations of drug addiction treatment and the
alternatives for preventing the misuse of drugs are comprehensively
analyzed in the Bar Association's reports of the Task Forces on Drug
Addiction Treatment and Prevention, also available at the King County Bar
Association's Web site (www.kcba.org).

Recognizing the urgent need to shift from a criminal law model to a public
health model in our approach to drugs, the King County Medical Society has
joined with the King County Bar Association in an informal partnership to
work toward that goal. During the last legislative session, the Washington
State Bar Association joined the King County Bar Association in supporting
then-pending legislation to reduce criminal sentences and commit the
savings to drug addiction treatment. More recently, the House of Delegates
of the Washington State Medical Association recently resolved to support
treatment over incarceration for non-violent drug offenders.

While we do not claim to have a complete vision of a perfectly formulated
drug policy, we are confident that we must move boldly toward the provision
of effective treatment, now offered to only a small fraction of those who
need it, and away from an excessive use of the criminal sanctions that have
caused more harm than good.

Of course, the criminal law will always have a role to play to assure
public safety. Drug abuse should not excuse behavior that puts others at
risk. Violent or other non-drug related behavior or driving under the
influence of any mind-altering drug should continue to be prohibited and
punished. And, in our view, the distribution of drugs (except by those who
deliver small quantities to support their own addiction) and, of course,
giving or selling mind-altering drugs to minors should continue to be
prohibited and criminally punished.

The people of Washington take pride in being leaders and innovators in
aviation, computer software, medicine and biotechnology. Last year, the
voters of California overwhelmingly chose treatment over prison for
non-violent drug offenders.

Let's assemble the best and most experienced minds in our state to study
the results of that initiative, and learn from the experience of the
European countries that are moving to end their own failed criminal law
models for drug control. Our local and state governments desperately need
the hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on imprisoning drug possessors
to build treatment facilities and invest in prevention so we can build a
safer, healthier and more compassionate and productive society.