ARE WE REALLY WINNING THE WAR ON DRUGS?

THE OFFICE of National Drug Control Policy unveiled its ``new'' $19 billion
strategy yesterday. Director Gen. Barry McCaffrey, our drug ``czar,'' claims
that we have made ``substantial progress'' and that ``for those who say this
is a war, we are winning.''

Really? By what measure?

After spending upward of $250 billion since 1980 to get illegal drugs off
the streets and away from children, hard drugs are coming into the country
and hitting the streets just as much as ever. Like prices of other abundant
products, prices of heroin and cocaine are at record lows. In 1981, a gram
of uncut heroin would have cost $1,200. Today the price has plummeted to
just $318. The drop in the price of cocaine is also dramatic, down from $191
per gram at the beginning of the drug war to the bargain price of $44 today.

And it's strong stuff, with heroin 25 percent pure (compared with 5 percent
in 1981), and cocaine at 70 percent pure (compared with 40 percent in 1981).
So much for interdiction.

Deaths associated with illegal drug use have increased 44 percent (to nearly
16,000 a year) since the War on Drugs began in 1980. It is impossible to
know the strength of ``white powder'' substances, such as heroin and
cocaine, since they hit the street unlabeled. Heroin overdose fatalities
have climbed steadily among adults and teenagers, and continue to shock
communities all over the country, including urban centers, rural areas and
suburban enclaves.

The AIDS epidemic is still with us, with intravenous drug users constituting
half of new cases.

Hepatitis C, which causes liver failure, is also contracted through sharing
syringes. This virus is spreading so rapidly that some experts say it will
make HIV look like small potatoes.

A majority (57 percent) of men and women seeking treatment are turned away
due to a lack of facilities in their area or prohibitive costs. Methadone
maintenance, proven as the most effective treatment, is wrought with
restrictive regulations and terribly underfunded, making access problematic.
This leaves street addicts just that, on the street, having to resort to
crime to support their habits and at risk for contracting drug-related
illnesses such as HIV and Hepatitis C.

Our prisons are bulging, with 400,000 Americans currently serving time for
drug-law violations. Some 700,000 individuals were arrested last year for
marijuana offenses -- a full 85 percent of them for simple possession.
Communities of color have been especially devastated by escalating arrests,
disproportionate convictions and long mandatory sentences.

One in 3 young black men in America are currently under some form of
criminal justice supervision. That's the bad news. I suppose that as the
mother of a teenager I should be heartened by McCaffrey's trumpeting a 13
percent decline in youth drug use. I watch these numbers very carefully, and
surveys indicate that drug use among teens has gone up and down over the
past 20 years.

Still, after two decades of telling them to ``just say no,'' 80 percent
admit to experimenting with alcohol and other drugs before they graduate
from high school.

Teenagers have no trouble procuring a range of substances, with 90 percent
of high school seniors reporting that marijuana is ``fairly or very easy''
to get.

Nearly 40 percent know where to find Ecstasy (a euphoric, ``feel-good'' drug
used primarily at all-night dance parties known as Raves), almost half can
get LSD, and one third say they know where to buy heroin.

So much for keeping drugs out of the hands of kids. Our priorities are
misplaced.

Current federal policy, this year and for the past 20 years, uses two-thirds
of its resources to try to keep drugs out of the country and to arrest and
incarcerate users.

This strategy misses the point.

Substance abuse is no more a criminal justice issue than diabetes or obesity
or acne.

We should offer compassion and treatment to those with drug problems, and
cease arresting those whose only offense is personal use. And we should do
everything we can to honestly educate our children about drugs, while
providing them with meaningful activities that keep them engaged in school
and off the streets.

Ultimately, U.S. drug policy needs a new bottom line, one that focuses on
promoting health and reducing illness, death and suffering.