DRUG WAR: EMPHASIS NEEDS TO SHIFT TO EDUCATION, PREVENTION

Many of America's youth have not yet learned to "just say no" to drugs.
Despite gains on some fronts, evidence is mounting that we are still losing
the war on drugs. And the nation's outgoing drug czar believes we need to
change the rules of engagement.

Departing White House National Drug Policy Director Barry McCaffrey said at
his final press conference that the very concept of a "war on drugs" is
misleading because it assumes that the challenge of combating drug use is a
battle with a beginning and an end, and not, as the retired four-star
general argues, a "continuous process" of reducing public demand for drugs.
In his final report on America's anti-drug efforts, Gen. McCaffrey amended
the goals of the National Drug Control Strategy to include treatment.
Coupled with prevention, punishment and research, he said, drug treatment
programs for chronic drug users can be an effective weapon in the fight
against addiction. That is a fight that the drug czar thinks we can win. He
notes drug use in all age groups dropped 50 percent in the last two
decades, and credits a "team effort" by parents, teachers, coaches,
religious and business leaders, law enforcement and community groups.

Gen. McCaffrey also emphasized the need to continue to educate youth about
the need to reject illegal drugs in addition to alcohol and tobacco. He
noted that teen drug use is also down 21 percent in the last two years.

There was more good news in a November study of nearly 7,000 teenagers by
the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, which found that 40 percent of
teens strongly agree that "really cool" teens don't do drugs, up from 35
percent the year before. The survey also suggested that marijuana use among
teens is less prevalent now than in previous years. That was followed by
the release of a study of 45,000 eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders by the
Department of Health and Human Services that found that heroin use among
eighth-graders and cocaine use among 12th-graders were both down.

Unfortunately, that's not the whole story. The same research confirms that
the availability and popularity of so-called "club drugs" is on the rise by
as much as 80 percent over previous years. The most popular is Ecstasy, a
synthetic stimulant pill that acts as a hallucinogen. A common fixture at
clubs and parties, the drug ­ known as "e" ­ provides a temporary rush and
mood enhancement but also can cause sleeplessness, memory loss, nervous
disorders and brain damage.

Gen. McCaffrey is quite right about the need to change our approach to this
national problem. Of the tens of billions of dollars that the U.S. has
committed to the "drug war" ­ including $19.2 billion this year alone ­ the
lion's share has gone to law enforcement and punishment with too little
going toward treatment and prevention. That must change. But government
cannot solve this problem alone. The "team effort" must continue and
parents especially must step up to the plate and accept the chief
responsibility for teaching their children right from wrong and to stay
away from drugs.

Until then, America's drug habit will persist and wreak havoc on the lives
of new generations.