THE DRUG WAR: NO MORE LIES

Alas, Huffington misses the real reason the war on drugs continues year
after year: Our government employees profit immensely from it. Whether it
is the local and state police forces that confiscate property and then sell
it for a profit or federal agents doing the same while also cushioned by
record budgets that have dramatically expanded our president's private army
and conveniently armed them with machine guns, no law enforcement official
is likely to raise their voice against the abuses or failures.

Every civil servant or private contractor that profits from the asset
seizures will cheer on the "war" despite its legendary lack of success
because they can live like royalty from this hidden tax on American
society. A shift to treatment over criminalization and asset seizures will
cripple the little kingdoms Congress and the president have so carefully
created. For that reason I very much doubt that the "war" on the American
people will end very soon. After all, it is ultimately greed that drives
all wars!

- -- Randy Hofland

I don't understand why more conservatives haven't turned on the drug war
already. As a libertarian, I see the drug war for what it is: the ultimate
liberal government program to protect people from themselves. Like most
government programs, its real purpose is to increase the power of the
federal government over more aspects of our lives.

- -- Richard Carpenter

Arianna Huffington is quite correct in stating that America's so-called war
on drugs is a dismal failure. I am a clinical psychologist, active in
forensic psychology, who evaluates inmates in the jails on a daily basis.
The vast majority of individuals that I see have a substance abuse problem,
most frequently crack cocaine. Many have 20, 30, 40 arrests, only to be
released and start the cycle all over again. So many have told me that they
consume as many drugs in prison as on the streets. The substance abuse
"treatment" they receive in prison is phony, with many inmates going to
12-step meetings to reduce their sentences. Violations of confidentiality,
a cornerstone of treatment, are commonplace. Incarcerating nonviolent drug
offenders also produces jobs and incomes for mental health professionals,
attorneys, criminal justice employees and companies that service
incarcerated inmates.

It is time for our political leaders to step up and face the obvious. We
must have bold new approaches, and be willing to consider solutions that
heretofore were taboo. These include, but are not limited to, selective
legalization, decriminalization, extraordinary efforts at primary
prevention, funding for drug therapies, vaccinations, and funds for new
approaches for treatment and research. If they do not work after a trial
basis then throw them out without recriminations and start something else.

In order for progress to be made, these efforts should be undertaken in a
bipartisan effort, with the endorsement of law enforcement officials.
Demagogues need not apply. Are our political leaders up to the task? Let's
hope so or we will continue to fight a lost war.

- -- Michael S. Greenberg, Ph.D.