THE EXPERTS SPEAK OUT

Gen. Barry McCaffrey, U.S. Drug Czar

On the War on Drugs

Head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), retired Gen.
Barry McCaffrey was interviewed by the HPR in the Spring of 1997 (Vol. XXIV,
No. 2). Back then, we were surprised by the Drug Czar's willingness to
criticize administration policy. Three years later, though, we have seen
little in the way of reform.

On Disparate Sentences for Crack and Powder Cocaine Crimes:
"But the problem is who's suffering the most from drug abuse in America. I
would argue that the consequences are most intense for those parts of the
population that lack health care, jobs…and so, a bunch of us think the
disparity in sentencing doesn't make any sense. We don't agree with it."

On Drug Discourse:
"We've got to stop giving polemical speeches."

On Mandatory Sentencing Laws:
"A combination of mandatory minimum sentences and no effective drug
treatment, that combination is what is destroying the African-American male
community, and a lot of others. You can't lock people up for their problem
and not apply effective drug treatment. You've got to have alternatives."

On the War on Drugs:
"We've got to face up to the fact that we've got a failed social policy."

Sen. Ted Kennedy

On the War on Drugs

Having served in the U.S. Senate for 37 years, Ted Kennedy has seen it all.
During a recent trip to Cambridge, the Senator took a moment to tell the HPR
how he thinks American drug policy has evolved over the past 20 years.

"In 1980, as a matter of national policy, we were going to have 50% of the
federal budget in interdiction, prosecution, and internment. And 50% was
going to be in rehabilitation to try to deal with the problem of addiction.

"What we have done and seen in the last years is that we have gotten far
away from those kinds of percentages where it is now almost 80% in
prosecution and about 20% in dealing with the problems of addiction.

"I still believe that we need to get back into a greater kind of balance,
and I think that ought to be reflected in national policy at the federal
level, but also at the state and local levels. I think it just makes a great
deal of sense and that ought to be the direction we go."

Index for the Harvard Political Review's series:

"Smoke and Mirrors - America's Drug War"

The Thirty Years' War - (Part 1 of a 10 part series)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1084/a03.html

Editorial: From The Editor - (Part 2 of a 10 part series)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1084/a02.html

The Experts Speak Out - (Part 3 of a 10 part series)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1084/a05.html

Keep It Real - (Part 4 of a 10 part series)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1084/a04.html

The Colombian Conundrum - (Part 5 of a 10 part series)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1084/a06.html

Demystifying the Dutch - (Part 6 of a 10 part series)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1085/a03.html

Paralyzed by Politics - (Part 7 of a 10 part series)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1085/a01.html

An Unfortunate Hypocrisy - (Part 8 of a 10 part series)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1085/a02.html

Throwing Away the Key - (Part 9 of a 10 part series)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1085/a04.html

Beyond Good and Evil - (Part 10 of a 10 part series)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1085/a05.html