DRUG STUDY PROBES CAUSES

Monday, August 20, 2001 - Drug addiction is the scourge of our
nation. Yet neither the "Just Say No" campaign of Nancy Reagan, the
decades-long War on Drugs, the imprisonment of vast numbers of
non-violent drug offenders nor continued efforts at rehabilition have
slowed the tide.

Indeed, drug abuse has proliferated to the point that the U.S. drug
market has an estimated worth of $150 billion a year, and more than
$17 billion is spent annually on the War on Drugs.

Pure heroin retails at $28,000 an ounce and cocaine at $3,900. Even
marijuana commands the same price as gold, $300 an ounce. Americans
are gobbling up the goods while the dealers rake in enormous profits,
833 percent for cocaine, for example.

Yet while the criminalized trade has wrought related gangs, killings,
corruption, thefts and burglaries, and while imprisonment has
multiplied six times since the late 1970s, the emphasis on
enforcement rather than rehabilitation hasn't begun to slow the trend.

Now the federal government finally is making an intelligent
investment in trying to quell America's appetite for drugs. A $4.2
million grant will let University of Colorado researchers buy a brain
scanning machine that could determine whether a brain abnormality
makes some people more prone to addiction.

Such medical research could result in treatments - whether medication
or early prevention - to help people before they begin abusing drugs.

Granted, such findings won't do much to arrest abuse among those with
psychological problems. But if people with a genetic predisposition
are warned in advance, they could be spared a lifetime of sorrow.

Medical experts long have acknowledged that alcoholism is a genetic
disease. Similarly, part of the brain's singulum, responsible for
reason and decision-making, develops more slowly in schizophrenics.

But rehabilitation, whether for alcoholism or drug abuse, is a
crapshoot at best. While some addicts and alcoholics beat the odds
and proceed to lead clean and sober lives, many, many more suffer for
decades or die prematurely despite all best efforts to save them.

If research into drug abusers' brains produces useful findings, many
people might be spared the agony of addiction.

We urge continued government investment in medical research and
improving rehabilitation rather than perpetuating its "lock 'em up"
policy for those poor souls who clearly need help.