AMERICA'S LOST WAR ON DRUGS

AURORA -- America's war on drugs has been fought for a quarter of a century
and dismally lost. Even though America's drug warriors won't admit to
defeat, more and more discordant voices of enlightenment are rising above
the general cacophony. They encourage us to reexamine the war, the enemy,
the casualties and the price paid.

Most of the effort and resources have gone into interdiction -- attempting
to stem the flow, to eradicate the source and impede the transportation of
drugs. But since the demand has remained extremely high, suppliers have
found the most creative and ingenious ways to deliver the merchandise to
us. Authorities of the Drug Enforcement Agency have been caught between two
indomitable forces -- unscrupulous and highly motivated suppliers and an
insatiable drug consumer -- the American public.

The war on drugs was fought on faith, prejudice and pride, and pretty
little logic. We all remember the simplistic statement -- "Just say no."
Unfortunately that didn't work, for faced with mounds of cocaine at
parties, few Americans have said no to the thrill.

Laws passed to discourage drug use and driven more by vindictiveness and
less by a sense of justice have had a bitter harvest indeed. Whole inner
city "villages" languish in our jails as a result of police action, where a
gram of cheap crack cocaine (used by poor inner city blacks) earns one 20
years in jail, and a gram of refined, more expensive powder cocaine (used
by upscale suburbanites) and a good lawyer earns one probation. No matter
how many users we lock up, Americans' craving for drugs hasn't diminished.
We've used precious dollars, not to educate but to build jails and to
incarcerate. Few politicians have dared to suggest we change directions:
They need to be seen as being tough on criminals.

The drug-war strategy has failed because of two things: Americans' love
affair with drugs and ignorance of the pathophysiology of drug addiction.
As is true in alcohol consumption, there are two types of drug users: the
recreational and the more easily addicted; the casual user and the abuser.
We manage the problematic alcoholic not by incarceration but with therapy
and education. Yet, we have difficulty extrapolating this approach to
cocaine and other drugs, even though the mechanisms of addiction are
similar. We know that certain families have a chemical predilection to
alcoholism. Similarly, drug addiction is a manifestation of chemical
derangement, psychic and psychological need, which lends itself to treatment.

We know our borders are more porous than a sieve and less than 10 percent
of all cocaine is ever interdicted. So why do we spend billions on this
foolish and foolhardy effort? Because it's politically correct.

What is reasonable and logical is to spend more resources to treat the
addicted in our midst and our jails. Addicts in our jails receive little
attention, certainly little therapy. And when we release them into society
they're usually no better than when we put them away.

America needs to spend the billions it fritters away on the high-tech drug
war on low-tech education, therapy and decreasing drug demand. This should
include changing Americans' attitudes toward drugs and pills, reducing our
penchant for a pill for each malady, each ache. We should empower families
and teachers and make them partners in the war against drug use and
addiction. The war front is at home, in our families. The enemy is here;
he's us.

We need to rewrite our laws so there's justice and equality. Perhaps
decriminalizing addiction and the possession of small amounts of cocaine
and other drugs isn't such a crazy idea after all. Many think the time for
this is at hand.

The hallmark of a good therapist is open mindedness; the posture that if a
given therapy hasn't worked for decades, then perhaps changing course would
be most logical. There is no doubt that what we've done so far, hasn't
worked. We need a new strategy if the war is to be won.