FIGHTING THE DRUG WAR

ANNOUNCER: June 29th, 2000.

1ST MAN: This is a lot better than crack.

ROBB MEYER: This is the only life-threatening illness that I know that
people say, 'Can you call me back in a couple of weeks and I'll try to get
you in.'

TED KOPPEL, ABCNEWS: Drug addiction. It's classified as a disease.

GOVERNOR TOM VILSACK: It is an illness. It's a sickness that has to be treated.

1ST POLICE OFFICER: How would you like to have a face full of mace?

TED KOPPEL: So, why do we treat it like a crime?

2ND POLICE OFFICER: Put your hands behind your back and do as you're told.

DR STEVE GLEASON (ph) Substance abusers are sometimes icky people. They
really do things that irritate everybody else. They do crime.

KIP KAUTSKY (ph): Locking up people who have drug problems, it is not a
thoughtful way to work. And it is clearly not working.

2ND MAN: Unless we change people's attitudes, unless we get them off of
drugs, we're never going to solve the problem.

TED KOPPEL: Tonight, the war on drugs. Are we fighting The Wrong Battle?

ANNOUNCER From ABCNEWS: this is Nightline. Reporting from Washington, Ted
Koppel.

TED KOPPEL: As a general principle, politicians do not get elected in this
country by appearing to be soft on drugs, which, in turn, means anyone who
uses them, transports them, or sells them. And, indeed, our prisons are
full and new prisons are being built just to accommodate all the men and
women who have been sentenced to hard time for drug-related crimes.

As a general principle, politicians do not get elected in this country by
voting for large expenditures of foreign aid. Israel and Egypt seem to be
two notable exceptions, but there is a third. Just last week, the Senate
approved a piece of foreign aid legislation of almost a billion dollars to
provide military training and assistance to the army and police of Colombia
in their ongoing battle against the production of and distribution of
cocaine and other hard drugs.

You would think, in fact, that all you need to do in order to get money out
of the US or your local state government is attach the word "drugs" to a
bill or a program and you would get all the money you need. Indeed, that
appears to be true, with one notable exception. Add the word "treatment,"
as in "drug treatment program," and all you get is apathy, which is more
than strange, because in terms of dollar for dollar value, drug treatment
programs are demonstrably cheaper and more effective than any kind of
military aid or law enforcement. Let's begin with this report from Deborah
Amos.

1ST WOMAN: Hello.

ROBB MEYER: Hi, thank you.

DEBORAH AMOS, ABCNEWS: (VO) It's 6:30 in the morning.

ROBB MEYER: How are you today?

1ST WOMAN: Tired.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) Robb Meyer is here to make a public pitch.

3RD MAN: It's R-O-B-B, right? M-E-Y-E-R?

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) He desperately needs donations to keep his new treatment
center going. ROBB MEYER A person has a 75 percent greater opportunity for
recovery when family members are involved.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) Meyer saw a need. He thought he had an answer to Iowa's
epidemic of addiction and the long waiting list for treatment.

ROBB MEYER: Before we opened this center, there was 16 beds in the state of
Iowa. There were 16 beds in the state of Iowa that treated women and their
dependent children. That's all.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) Meyer will strike out with this early morning audience...

ROBB MEYER: Thank you.

DEBORAH AMOS: ...just as he's struck out with most foundations, charities,
and state and local officials. So he took on more than $200,000 of debt to
open his center.

ROBB MEYER: We can't afford to wait. If we waited till we could get the
money to start the Rainbow Recovery Center, then the Rainbow Recovery
Center would probably just be a dream that would go on and on and on.

2ND WOMAN: Good morning, Robb.

ROBB MEYER: Good morning.

3RD WOMAN: Morning.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) Robb Meyer thought he'd done everything right.

NICKI: (ph) My name's Nicki. I'm an addict.

GROUP OF ADDICTS: (In unison) Hi, Nicki.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) All the science was there, but to be successful,
treatment must be long-term.

ROBB MEYER: Addictive personality, what's that about? Take it on, move on
with it.

4TH WOMAN: Low self-esteem.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) That women do better in women-only treatment programs,
that women have more success with treatment when their children live with them.

ROBB MEYER: He'll be a therapist when he gets to be big. OK....

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) There was nothing like that in Des Moines, where
treatment means long waits for short stays.

5TH WOMAN: Another crisis was when I lost my daughter because of my drug use.

ROBB MEYER: This is the only life-threatening illness that I know that
people say, `Can you call me back in a couple of weeks and I'll try to get
you in.'

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) He even thought he had the governor, Tom Vilsack, on his
side, who made a very public visit to a treatment center last February.

TOM VILSACK: We have been significantly underfunding these programs for
quite some time and we have paid a price as a society.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) Vilsack often cited a state study that showed $1
invested in treatment is a $4 savings in court costs, prison costs, even
health costs. Still, Robb Meyer couldn't get a cent from the government. At
the Rainbow Recovery Center, women can stay up to a year. Their children
live here, too.

6TH WOMAN: Come brush your teeth.

1ST CHILD: Unh-huh. Unh-huh.

6TH WOMAN: Yes.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) This building, once a sorority house for a local
college, is now a full house with 14 women and 12 children.

ROBB MEYER: Kids want structure in their life. The kids like structure in
their life.

DEBORAH AMOS: And that wasn't true when mom was using?

ROBB MEYER: No. See, the kids--the kids were there to fend for themselves.
You see, because the kids are now learning that you got to get up in the
morning and you eat breakfast and you get ready and you go to school.

AUDREY: (ph) How have you guys been, huh?

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) Audrey has been anxiously waiting for this moment, a
reunion with her twins.

AUDREY: I missed you guys.

DEBORAH AMOS (VO) The twins have been in foster care for three months. But
even though she's finally back together with her children, Audrey and all
of the mothers here know that they are still in danger of losing custody of
their children.

4TH WOMAN: Don't forget your hat that Robb gave you.

DEBORAH AMOS: For many women, tough new federal and state laws means hard
choices concerning their children come quickly. In Iowa, the law says that
a child must be placed in a stable home within a year. It's the best thing
for a child, of course, but for the mother, it means the clock is ticking.
She has to turn her life around within that time or she risks losing her
parental rights, losing her children, forever. (VO) Juvenile court Judge
Constance Cohen says she also feels caught by this system. She is critical
of the long waiting lists for treatment, but she has to follow the law.

JUDGE CONSTANCE COHEN, JUVENILE COURT JUDGE: I will take a little jar of
whiteout and I ask them if they know what it is, and I keep it right up on
the bench, and they usually know what that is. And I say, 'Do you know what
they do with this stuff if I terminate your parental rights? Your names are
whiteouted from the birth certificates and the names of the new parents are
inserted.'

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) Chris Rawlings (ph) is in court today because she's
close to the deadline and the county attorney wants to terminate her
parental rights.

CHRIS RAWLINGS: I understand that they want a permanent place for my son,
but the only permanent place I see him to be and be happy is with me. And
they shouldn't have to put a time frame on that.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) For now, her 19-month-old son Matthew is in foster care.

CHRIS RAWLINGS: Kisses. Yes.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) Chris has weekly supervised visits. She now has a job,
four months of sobriety, and is in treatment here. But still, it may be too
late.

ROBB MEYER: I think there needs to be a clock, but I don't know that it's
not ticking too fast. I don't know that they put some unrealistic
expectations on women in order to access all the services they need in
order to do that because we don't give them enough time to prove themselves.

CONSTANCE COHEN: There is a collision between the timelines we know are
realistic for recovery, taking into consideration the reality of relapse
and the timelines imposed by law for reunification or termination. Is it
unfair? Perhaps to the parents. But you have to remember that my job is to
ensure that the best interests of the children are met.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) But the reality is, relapse is a symptom of this disease.

ROBB MEYER: Tell me who you are. I am--I am--I am.

4TH WOMAN: Oh, not this again.

ROBB MEYER: Yep, again. Who am I? Who are you?

4TH WOMAN: I am a good person. I am a good mother.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) Studies show that women average four relapses, even in
successful treatment. But just one can raise doubts in a judge's mind.

ROBB MEYER: Well, then, she must not be serious. No, she's very serious.
This woman is very sick. You don't change somebody's behavior or you don't
change somebody's irrational thought process into a rational thought
process in 14 days. You don't do it in 60 days. You don't do it in 90 days.
It takes a long time. It takes patience. It takes structure. You have two
steps forward and one step back. Well, and you know that I'm Robb and also
a recovering drug addict.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) Robb Meyer knows that treatment works. He was an addict
for 22 years, and has taken every one of those steps and then some. He's
been clean and sober now for eight years.

ROBB MEYER: I went to treatment 12 times. And does that mean treatment
doesn't work? No, it means treatment works, but it means that--that we have
to take little bits of our treatment and put that together. I learned
something at every treatment center that I went to. I truly did. We have
shown that--that treatment interventions help people return to a healthy,
productive lifestyle.

ANNOUNCER: This is ABCNEWS: Nightline, brought to you by...

(Commercial break)

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) One of the best substance abuse treatment programs in
Iowa is right here, a $175 million program pays for more than 700 slots.
Treatment is for six months. The only problem is you have to go to prison
to get in.

7TH WOMAN: What are some things that you personally are setting as a goal
as far as your attitude?

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) But more than 80 percent of the prisoners here say they
have substance abuse problems, so many that even in prison there is a
waiting list to get treatment. Kip Kautsky is Iowa's commissioner of
corrections.

KIP KAUTSKY: Locking up people who have drug problems, who have substance
abuse problems, it is not a thoughtful way to organize, and it's clearly
not working. Well, how do we know it's not working? Look at how many people
who are coming back who have drug problems.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) For those who do come back, 60 percent are nonviolent
offenders, bad check writers, burglary cases, crimes associated with
addiction, so many cases that Iowans voted to build three new prisons.

KIP KAUTSKY: Essentially, we--we're looking at the fundamental issue of how
many people can we afford to send to prison?

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) Dr. Steve Gleason, director of Iowa's Public Health
Department, asks how many people can Iowa afford not to treat?

STEVE GLEASON: Without bringing the treatment dollars up, we are never
going to stop the flow of drugs to this country. It's--it's the demand.
It's free market. We--we in America should understand a free market and an
open market. If there's a demand, somebody's going to supply it.

3RD POLICE OFFICER: Get down. Police search warrant!

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) And somebody always does. In Iowa, police sharply curbed
the flow of methamphetamine coming from Mexico, but local labs stepped up
production to fill the demand. Police detected 320 labs in 1998. Two years
later, that number jumped to 800, and the price of meth kept dropping. (OC)
But still the national approach to fighting drug addiction is mainly
focused on fighting drug supply. Less than one-third of the federal budget
for the problem goes to reducing demand. And many say, the balance is way
out of line. Consider this statistic, a study by the Rand Corporation shows
that money spent on drug treatment is seven times more effective than law
enforcement, 23 times more effective than fighting drugs at the source.
(VO) Officials in Iowa have been making the argument, but still, it's hard
to sell.

STEVE GLEASON: Substance abusers, I like to call them, are sometimes icky
people. They really do things that irritate everybody else. In addition,
there is this perception, because they don't like drug addicts, that the
individual did it themselves, so they can find a way out. But while that
individual is finding their way out, they're continuing to affect the
criminal system, their families, their children.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) This year, Iowa's Governor Tom Vilsack approved an
additional $5 million for prevention and treatment programs, but it's only
enough to boost existing programs, not to start new ones.

TOM VILSACK: It's always about choices. And the thing politicians don't do
is they never explain to people, it's about choices. What's more important?
Where do you want us to invest your resources?

ROBB MEYER: We need to figure out how we are going to come up with
$219,515, and I would open that up to suggestions.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) Knowing there will be no help from state and local
officials, the board meeting at the Rainbow Recovery Center focuses on
where to get funds for the 14 women and 12 children who live here.

KIP KAUTSKY: The concern then is that--that we let this public policy that
is driven by a lack of funds, essentially create demand for a new prison.
And that to me is--is missing the point. And it is truly dealing with
something with--with a sledgehammer that--that you frankly don't need. You
need thoughtful treatment in the community.

5TH WOMAN: I just hope that when you leave here that I can be a positive
role model for everybody here, too, like you were.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) For Dana Lee Funk, it's graduation day.

4TH WOMAN: OK, Dana.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) She now has a job. She's completed three months of
intense treatment. She'll be back at least once a week for the next year.

8TH WOMAN: I'm very proud of her. I love her very much.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) And so it goes, on and on. Dana's mother and grandmother
join the hug line.

DANA LEE FUNK: (ph) I love you.

9TH WOMAN: I'm very proud of you, Honey. You take care, and we know you'll
come out OK.

ROBB MEYER: We wanted to see women get healthy and families stay together.
And this has exceeded even my wildest dreams.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) It is 11-year-old Heather's dream, too. (OC) Are you
happy about where your mom is now?

HEATHER: (ph) Yeah.

DEBORAH AMOS: Is she different?

HEATHER: Yeah.

DEBORAH AMOS: Is she better?

HEATHER:Yeah. I think so.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) Dana is moving back into her own apartment with
one-year-old Kenny (ph). Her daughters will stay with grandma for a while
longer. It is a good day for Robb, not just because it's the first
graduation, but it opens up another bed. Worries about money will have to wait.

ROBB MEYER: Walk in that house tonight at 8:30, when the kids go to bed,
and mom's carrying those--those kids to bed.

10TH WOMAN: Ready for bed?

2ND CHILD: Not yet.

ROBB MEYER: That's the way families live.

11TH WOMAN: There you go.

ROBB MEYER: Not only are we breaking that cycle of--of mom and the kids
being separated, but, see, now we've got a chance to break the cycle, that
addictive cycle, with the kids. And then everybody gets well.

DEBORAH AMOS: (VO) For Nightline, this is Deborah Amos in Des Moines, Iowa.

TED KOPPEL: When we come back, I'll be joined by a writer who has studied
the political battle over drug treatment for years.

(Commercial break)

TED KOPPEL: Joining us now from New York, Michael Massing, who has reported
on the politics of drugs in the United States and Central America for 10
years. I read your book, Mr. Massing, and remember thinking, what a sly dog
this guy is. So here he is pushing that bleeding heart liberal notion of
drug treatment and whom does he invoke but Richard Nixon. Why did you?

MICHAEL MASSING, AUTHOR "THE FIX": Well, it was a great surprise to me when
I started my research. I really didn't expect to find anything of note in
the history. We'd been waging this war on drugs for so long. But the more I
looked into it, the more people kept telling me, you should look at the
Nixon era. Things were done very differently then. And sure enough, the
more I looked into it, the more I found that the Nixon presidency took a
very pragmatic approach to the issue. Basically, they wanted to bring the
crime rate down. They researched it. They determined that much of the crime
that they were concerned about was being caused by heroin addicts. They
wanted to have a quick effect because they were aiming for the '72
election. They wanted to bring crime down by then. And, basically, they
determined that if they could get addicts into treatment through methadone
and residential treatment and the like, that they could have a definite
effect on the crime rate.

TED KOPPEL: And did it work?

MICHAEL MASSING: And it actually...

TED KOPPEL: It worked?

MICHAEL MASSING: ...it actually worked. Crime had gone down for the first
time in years. Medical emergencies, hepatitis rates, one indicator after
another, declined largely due to this ruth--investment in drug treatment.

TED KOPPEL: And, as I recall from your book, it was also by far the most
cost effective. In other words, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than any other
approach that's been taken, right?

MICHAEL MASSING: If you look at studies, for instance, by the Rand
Corporation and elsewhere, the dollars that go into treatment are many
times more effective than domestic law enforcement, than border
interdiction, and especially much more effective than investing in hardware
sent to places like Columbia, which we're about to do in a major fashion.

TED KOPPEL: So explain to me then, it's cheaper, it's more effective, and
clearly, I think, the American public does want drug addiction brought down
and drug use brought down. So, if it's cheaper and better, why aren't more
people in favor of it?

MICHAEL MASSING: Well, Ted, I think you've put your finger on it at the
beginning of the show that basically we still are in a very tough on crime
type of climate. It's much easier for a politician to get up there and
thunder about putting people away. Treatment is a--is a concept that seems
to many people to be coddling criminals. I also think people just aren't
aware yet of--of the studies and the research out there showing how cost
effective it is.

TED KOPPEL: But it just strikes me that with--with Richard Nixon out there,
even posthumously, being able to run interference for any politician who
wants to run that particular course, it would be a pretty safe way of doing
it to say, `Look, this is not a--this is not a liberal proposal.
Here's--here's one of our more conservative president, who was certainly
tough on crime, and whose own investigation showed him and whose practice
showed him that it works.'

MICHAEL MASSING: I think that the Republican Party today is in a very
different place than it was back then. And I just don't have much faith
that our candidate at this point is going to do something like this.

TED KOPPEL: So, I mean, where do we go? Where does America go from here? If
all the emphasis is on spending more money on building prisons, drug
interdiction, sending money overseas to countries like Columbia for more of
the same, where's the hope?

MICHAEL MASSING: I see two developments taking place that give me some
hope. One is the very development of money going to Columbia. I think that
it is focussed tremendous attention on this policy. There's been lively
debates in Congress. I think it's going to backfire. I think people are
going to look at a billion plus dollars going to Columbia for helicopters
when we've got addicts in Iowa and New York and California and every other
state who can't get the help they want. I think people are going to begin
asking questions about that.

I also feel that--that the continued expansion of our prison systems is
creating questions, as well. In New York state, Chief Judge Judith Kay (ph)
has just come out with a report calling for a massive diversion of people,
drug offenders in the criminal justice system to go into treatment. I think
more and more people in the criminal justice system are realizing that it's
a better bargain to treat these people. And once that begins to sink in
people are going to begin saying, `Well, if it's good for these people
in--in--who have been arrested, how about these people who haven't been
arrested? Shouldn't we also be giving them a chance to get well?' So, I do...

TED KOPPEL: Mr. Massing...

MICHAEL MASSING: ...see a little bit of hope there.

TED KOPPEL: We're out of time, but I think you very much. Michael Massing,
good to have you with us. I'll be back in a moment.

(Commercial break)

TED KOPPEL: And that's our report for tonight. I'm Ted Koppel in
Washington. For all of us here at ABCNEWS, good night.