STOP DRUG WAR BULLYING

In a recent three-part series, U.S. versus them, Senior Correspondent
Susan Taylor Martin of the St. Petersburg Times examined how other
nations are experimenting with alternatives to a punitive approach to
dealing with illicit drugs -- and how the U.S. government gets in
their way.

The United States, under both Republican and Democratic
administrations, has been the world's bully -- and not always an
enlightened one -- when it comes to drug policy.

We tell -- and often pressure -- other nations to adopt Washington's
anti-drug strategy, even though our way is increasingly viewed as a
failure, both at home and abroad.

Since the United States declared "war" on drugs 30 years ago, our
jail and prison population has gone from 200,000 inmates to more than
2-million people behind bars. Many of them are non-violent drug
offenders.

As Martin points out, we now spend almost $18-billion annually at the
federal level fighting drugs, up from $1-billion 25 years ago, yet
the use of illegal drugs by young Americans has doubled since 1992.

Still, our country's leaders continue to insist that harsh laws and
zero tolerance are the only valid approaches to combating the scourge
of illicit drugs. It is a philosophy we export.

Some nations bend to Washington's will, but others resist.

It isn't easy to stand up to the world's only superpower. When
Australia wanted to offer heroin addicts a "safe injection room" as a
way to get addicts off the street and provide them with clean
needles, the International Narcotics Control Board in Vienna, under
U.S. pressure, warned that the move would be in violation of drug
treaties. Australia went ahead anyway.

Over U.S. protests, Canada recently liberalized its policy on medical
marijuana, and the Netherlands has been at the forefront of
decriminalizing the personal use of marijuana, sold in its hundreds
of coffee shops.

The United States has consistently condemned this soft approach to
soft drugs, despite the seeming success the Dutch have had in
reducing the allure of marijuana.

The rate of marijuana or hashish use among Dutch 12 years and older
is less than half that of the United States.

Whether these nations have found a better way to address the drug
problem remains to be seen. Some of these experiments could turn out
to be dismal failures. But at least some nations want to see if there
are more effective ways to deal with their drug problems.

The United States should not stand in their way. What we know from
decades of experience is that the strict punitive approach cannot be
called a success.

It puts thousands of our citizens in prison, saps huge outlays of
state and federal money for law enforcement and corrections systems,
entangles us in foreign conflicts (Colombia), encourages organized
crime and ultimately does little to staunch demand.

That's why other nations experimenting with alternative approaches
are not being irresponsible as U.S. officials claim.

They are being pragmatic.

Go with what works.

Under President Bush and his drug czar, John Walters, we cannot
expect any bold changes in the nation's war on drugs.

Both are from the school of old-fashioned drug warriors.

But if the administration refuses to rethink its anti-drug strategy,
it should at least hold its fire until we see whether other countries
can come up with a better way.