THE DRUG WAR

Gray heads among us recall that it took a fierce anti-Communist Republican,
Richard Nixon, to make peace with China. The Democrats, being softies,
lacked credibility.

Now we need a similar leader for drugs. Soft-hearted Democrats have
criticized the Drug War for years, to little avail. Even when voters in a
referendum call for easing that battle, the federal warlords never budge.

But something new is afoot. Republican Governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico
is pitching reconsideration of the War. He recently won re-election,
despite his long-time admission of having favored drugs as a youth. George
W. Bush's current drug embarrassment is also helping. If he indeed used
cocaine at an earlier age, and is now running for president, why is it that
people who use cocaine today, especially in Texas, go to jail? This policy
of compassionate hypocrisy is even stimulating interest in our normally
docile press. A few members are discussing the wisdom of the whole War.

And now the sacred D.A.R.E. program is finally being examined. The police,
of all people, in some cities have concluded that it doesn't do much good.
Lexington, Mass., is the latest to drop out joining Seattle, Omaha, and
others. They think that traditional health curricula are just as effective.
Not surprisingly, kids are looking for a program that tells them the truth.
They can see through official propaganda in a flash.

Another eye-opener was a recent report showing that while crime rates are
plummeting, prison populations are still going up. The press is playing
with that one, too. The clear answer seems to be the mandatory sentences
imposed on drug offenders. They keep folks in jail for a very long time.

For those folks, a sudden reassessment of the War is too late. For others,
though, there is hope. And none too soon. Heroin treatment centers in
Connecticut show a new wave of addicts, fueled by lower prices and better
quality goods. The War has done nothing to shrink that wave. What it has
done is direct money and sympathy away from treatment. And what with
addicts being defined as criminals, they are less likely to show up any
place for help when cops might be around.

In another area, Connecticut is happily ahead of the pack. That's
methadone. Last month, San Francisco, the recreational drug capital of
America, announced that it would study feasibility of letting some doctors
prescribe methadone in their offices. That would allow diversion of
reclaimed heroin addicts from highly regimented and often degrading
clinics. Well, amazingly, Connecticut beat San Francisco to the punch. We
already have such a test going on. It's in Waterbury. It may be moving at
glacial speed, but it's there.

But unfortunately, it's only a token. We really need methadone availability
from doctors statewide, and in our jails as well. We also need marijuana
availability to patients for whom it is the only relief from pain. We need
more needle availability too, for addicts in danger of getting AIDS. And we
need hospital availability of heroin itself, as the Swiss have done, for
addicts beyond all other forms of treatment.

There are, in fact, many ways to de-escalate the War. Let's hope that Gov.
Johnson's crusade and Gov. Bush's travails help set the stage. The
Prison-Industrial Complex will resist change at every turn. If you might
like to lend a hand, write to A Better Way, 77 Sunrise Hill Road, Norwalk
06851, or call (203) 847-7746. They're looking for help.