THE WAR ON DRUGS: ARE WE SURE OF WHO THE REAL ENEMY IS?

It should come as no surprise to any of us that current drug policy has
been a dismal failure.

We need only look around us to see that drug statistics in almost every
category do not indicate any appreciable improvement.

In fact, it is fair to say that we are losing the war on drugs.

National drug policies have placed a greater emphasis on punishment over
treatment and have had a disproportionate impact on low-income communities
and minorities.

According to Efficacy, a drug policy reform group, although the drug war is
often defended as a way to protect children, there is mounting evidence
that DARE, the education program developed by former L.A. police chief
Daryl Gates, has not significantly deterred young people from trying
illegal drugs.

Furthermore, millions of poor children have become drug war orphans while
their parents serve lengthy jail terms.

War on Social Justice

Efficacy also asserts that the war on drugs is a war on social justice.
They cite that "although African Americans comprise about 12 percent of the
national population and 13 percent of drug users, they make up 35 percent
of those arrested for drug possession, 55 percent of convictions and 74
percent of those imprisoned for drug possession."

Further, they allege that the war on drugs is a war on taxpayers. Currently
the federal budget for the drug war is $17 billion. In 1972, as a result
of President Nixon's call for a "war on drugs," federal drug law
enforcement budget was about $101 million.

They cite that "it is difficult for most of us to cmprehend what these
numbers mean. But the true magnitude of cost can be understood if we
consider that in 1972 the average monthly Social Security benefits had
increased at the same rate as drug-war spending, the monthly benefits would
now be $30,444 a month. Similarly, the average 1972 salary of $114 per
week would have soared to $19,608 a week."

Another group interested in drug policy reform, The Sentencing Project,
reports that no issue has had more impact on the criminal justice system in
the past two decades than national drug policy. The war on drugs has been
a primary contributor to the enormous growth of the prison system in the
U.S. and has affected all aspects of the criminal justice system.

Specifically, the report indicates that:

Drug policies have increased arrests and prison populations. Drug arrests
have nearly tripled since 1980, having increased from 581,000 to nearly 1.6
million in 1997. As a result, the prison population has swelled,
increasing the numbers of offenders in state and federal prisons from
68,000 in 1980 to nearly 3000,000 today.

The proportion of space devoted to violent offenders has accordingly
declined.

Further, harsher sentencing laws have contributed to the increased number
of drug offenders in prison. These laws remove discretion from the
sentencing judge to consider the range of factors pertaining to the
individual and the offense that would normally be an integral aspect of the
sentencing.

Consequently, the chances of receiving a prison sentence for a drug offense
rose by 447 percent between 1980 and 1992.

More Women in Prison

The number of women in prisons as a result of drug offenses has also
increased. Unfortunately, approximately two-thirds of these women have
children under the age of 18. As a result of the federal welfare
legislation of 1996, there is now a lifetime ban on the receipt of welfare
for anyone convicted of a drug felony, unless a state chooses to opt out of
this provision.

Many drug offenders are inappropriately incarcerated. Because of mandatory
sentencing laws, drug offenders are also now serving longer prison
sentences with limited possibilities for parole.

As an example, the average length of time served in a federal prison for
drug offence in 1986 was 22 months.

In 1990, following the adoption of mandatory sentences, the expected length
of time served increased times three - to 66 months.

Moreover, most drug kingpins tend to escape prosecution. Those caught up
in the criminal justice system tend to be either street-level dealers or
mules (55 percent), or mid-to-low-level dealers (34-36 percent).

Further, while a significant number of inmates in prison or jail are
currently incarcerated for a drug offense (possession or sale of drugs),
additional numbers are incarcerated for drug-related offenses. These
include a burglary committed to obtain money to buy drugs or an assault
while under the influence of drugs.

In 1997, more than half (57 percent) of state prison inmates had used drugs
in the month prior to their arrest, and about one-sixth committed their
offense in order to obtain money to buy drugs.

Violent offenses were more likely to be committed by someone under the
influence of alcohol (42 percent) than drugs (29 percent). Compounding the
problem is the fact that less than 10 percent of substance-abusing
offenders in both state and federal prisons receive any type of treatment.

Drug policies and enforcement have disproportionately affected
African-Americans.

According to the Sentencing Project, greater emphasis on law enforcement
and incarceration of drug offenders has had a dramatic impact of the
incarceration of African Americans because of three overlapping policy
decisions - the concentration of drug law enforcement in inner-city areas,
harsher sentencing policies, particularly for crack cocaine, and, the drug
war's emphasis on law enforcement at the expense of prevention and
treatment.

Long-Running War

Given the shortage of treatment options in many inner-city areas, drug
abuse in these communities is more likely to receive attention as a
criminal justice problem, rather than a social problem.

Consequently, African-Americans who use drugs are more likely to be
arrested than other groups and then penetrate more deeply into the criminal
justice system.

What can we do? The war on drugs is the longest running war in U.S.
history. It is obvious that this is a war that we cannot win using our
current strategies.

Knowing this, our focus should now be towards policies that are based on
common sense, harm reduction, human rights, science, compassion and truth,
rather than emotion and politics.

As a result of the war on drugs, we have seen distorted law enforcement
priorities in fighting crime. Law enforcement resources have been
distorted from other crime problems, asset forfeiture laws have threatened
civil liberties and created an incentive for policy agencies to favor drug
law enforcement over other catefories of crime, and the impact on women,
children and families have created a myriad of additional problems.

It is now fairly well documented that emphasizing enforcement and
incarceration over prevention and treatment creates a system of injustices
and inefficiencies in current drug policty.

As a result of the war on drugs, the prison system has been vastly expanded
and in the process has exacted a heavey toll on minority communities.
Although there have been advances in treatment and innovations such as drug
courts, 30 percent of inmates sentenced to prison have been donvicted of a
drug offense.

Therefore, our focus should now be on shifting our approach to the drug
problem. We need to insist on changes in mandatory sentencing laws,
changes in funding priorities towards more treatment and prevention,
increased treatment options within the criminal justice system and fund
defense intervention services that assess defendant needs and that could
likely divert offenders from the court system.

Most importantly, we need to approach drug abuse primarily as a community
problem and a public health issue that makes available treatment options
without the prerequisite of arrest and involvement in the criminal justice
system.