MISGUIDED DRUG POLICY

TREATMENT IN U.S. BETTER THAN HELICOPTERS IN MEXICO

After years of experience and billions of dollars spent trying, the Clinton
administration has come to the realization that the use of U.S. military
hardware and trainers to thwart the drug trade in Mexico has too often been
a waste of money and effort. An ambitious program to train and equip the
Mexican army to intercept drug traffickers has ground to a halt, stymied by
mechanical problems -- helicopters that don't work well, for example -- and
worse -- suspicions that the U.S. military efforts may actually be
inadvertently abetting the drug trade and corruption in Mexico and working
to destabilize civilian rule in that country.

As one frustrated Clinton administration official quoted in the New York
Times said, "The question basically is: How do we get out of this box?"

The United States can't abandon all efforts to prevent foreign drugs from
entering the country. Nonetheless, according to both U.S. and Mexican
officials, the current endeavor in Mexico is not working. Why not
acknowledge that and look for a better way? Seeking to solve America's drug
problems with expensive military ventures in foreign countries has always
been a dubious strategy -- whether in Mexico or Colombia.

If the aim is to reduce illegal drug consumption in the United States,
researchers have long argued that money would be much better spent on law
enforcement efforts here -- or, even better, on treatment. A 1994 study by
the Rand Corp. concluded that dollar for dollar, drug treatment here is far
more effective in reducing cocaine use than going after street traffickers
or chasing smugglers from foreign countries, a tactic that Rand rated as the
least effective.

Specifically, the study calculated that an additional $34 million spent in
drug treatment would reduce cocaine consumption in this country by 1
percent. In stark contrast, it would require $366 million to produce the
same 1 percent reduction with local law enforcement and a whopping $738
million to produce the same results with border interdiction and
source-country controls.

Despite its proven efficacy, drug treatment remains woefully underfunded.
Thus while an estimated 114,177 addicts and alcoholics languish in
California prisons in 1998, only 13,000 receive any drug treatment at all.
Nationwide the federal government spends only 20 percent of the $17 billion
allocated for drug control annually on treatment. Much of the money that
goes to buy helicopters and train Mexican soldiers would be better spent on
the streets of America to fight addiction. It's time to put greater emphasis
on the demand for drugs and less on flailing helplessly to stop the supply.

Checked-by: Don Beck