I685: A More Intelligent Approach to our Drug Policies
By: Dr. Rob Killian

The War on Drugs is failing. We have spent billions and billions of tax
dollars, imprisoned thousands of people whose only crime is addiction and
given politicians control over medical decisions which should be kept
between doctors and patients. Despite this, our kids still continue to
experiment with drugs. Drug related crimes continue to plague our
communities.

I685 offers a more intelligent, compassionate, and effective alternative
to our current drug policies. It is an important step toward a longterm
solution which recognizes and treats drug abuse and addiction for what they
arepublic health problems.

As a young doctor I ran a hospice home for the dying for two years. Seeing
such suffering up close, I quickly came to understand the limits of modern
medicine. I learned very quickly that marijuana had a place in that
setting. It relieved nausea and it stimulated the appetite. This drug has
medical value, and it should be safely available for patients to use.

You may know one of the thousands of Washingtonians who risk arrest and
jail for possessing this drug that best relieves their symptoms, such as
severe nausea induced by cancer chemotherapy. You may one day face those
risks yourself to obtain marijuana for yourself or for a loved one in
agony. I685 permits doctors with a concurring opinion from a second
physician to treatand their seriously ill patients to useany drug with
established medical benefit, without the threat of prosecution. Currently,
marijuana is the only drug on the federal government's "schedule one" list
to meet this tough standard. In the future, medical research may discover
treatment benefits of other 'schedule one' drugs. If and when that
happens, I685 will allow doctorsnot politiciansto decide whether to
offer them as treatment.

Doctors prescribe dangerous medications every day. Every medication has
side effects. The risks and benefits of the variety of medication choices
must be weighed for each individual patient. Cost of the drugs must be
taken into consideration. Many of the medications that I can prescribe
today, without justification to anyone but my patients, are much more
dangerous than marijuana.

There currently is no mechanism whereby law enforcement can determine
whether someone caught with an illicit drug has a true medical need for
that drug. The Washington State Supreme Court recently ruled that a
suffering patient does not have a right to the relief of their suffering by
marijuana under current Washington State law. It is time for the voters to
express their outrage over this inhumane injustice. This initiative will
allow the voters to state unequivocally that any medication that relieves
the suffering of an individual should be safely available for medical use.

Drug abuse is just that: the abuse of a drug. Most drugs have their
medical uses, but they also have the potential for abuse. The drug is not
the problem. It is the misuse of the drug that creates the problems in
drug addiction and drug abuse. Doctors are trained to evaluate a patient's
medical concerns and licensed to treat those symptoms. If we, as a
society, believe the fear mongers who equate a doctor's recommendation of
marijuana with a streetcorner drug deal then we are doomed to lose both
the war against illegal drugs and the public health crisis that drug
addiction truly represents.

Initiative 685 prescribes courtsupervised drug treatment instead of jail
time for people convicted of simple drug possession. It does not legalize
any drug. It will mandate that drug addicts and drug abusers be punished
with drug treatment, drug education, community service, or anything else
that the sentencing judge finds appropriate short of incarceration for the
first two offenses. On the third offense the convict could then be
incarcerated.

Building more and more prisons is doing nothing to stem the tide of
addiction, nor has it prevented our kids from experimenting with drugs. It
has done nothing to decrease the drug related crimes that infect our
communities. Last year over 4000 Washingtonians were sent to jail or
prison for simple drug possession. It cost us over $28 million to house
and feed them. This year it is estimated that we will have sentenced over
5000 citizens to jail or prison for drug possession, at an estimated cost
of nearly $38 million.

Our politicians have been unable to fully fund our childrens' education
needs, but they seem willing to continue throwing our money away locking up
nonviolent drug users. We are averaging a new prison every four years in
Washington. Prisons do not prevent drug abuse. Incarceration does nothing
to treat drug addictions. Numerous studies have proven that with the
appropriate medical and psychological treatment the insidious cycle of drug
addiction can be broken. The scientific evidence is
overwhelmingtreatment is more effective and much less expensive than
imprisonment in reducing drug abuse.

In addition, this initiative puts in place a mechanism whereby those
currently in prison for simple drug possession may be released into court
supervised drug treatment or drug education programs. This provision would
not include persons convicted of violent offenses, persons convicted as
habitual criminals, or persons convicted of dealing drugs. Each inmate
potentially eligible for this release would have their cases reviewed by
the sentencing judge. In the future, these types of inmates would not be
sent to jail or prison for their first or second drug possession offense.
Thus, this early release only effects those doing time when the initiative
passes.

The opposition to this initiative would have you believe that my purpose in
sponsoring this initiative is to legalize drugs. Nothing could be further
from the truth. I work on the front lines in this war on drugs. I see the
ravages of addiction and the trauma loved ones suffer at the hands of
addicts. I am the father of two sons. The last thing I want to do is to
increase access to drugs. In fact, I strongly believe in social controls
against illegal drug use. But, the government's approach so far, mired in
political rhetoric and driven by political expediency, has been an
expensive failure. And, it's no secret why. Most addicts who commit
crimes do so only to feed their addiction. The threat of imprisonment,
however long, does not deter an addict, nor cure their addiction.

Opponents to every initiative ever introduced in Washington have claimed
them to be "poorly written", "vague", "too broad", etc. I685 is receiving
similar accusations. Our opponents have nothing else to offer. They fail
to explain the failure of the current system to stem the tide of drug
addiction or to offer an explanation for the billions and billions of our
dollars they have wasted on ineffective incarceration and scare tactics
that haven't worked. I685 is clear in it's intent to bring a rational
public health model to drugs.

As the New England Journal of Medicine summarized in a recent article,
"Doctors are not the enemy in the war on drugs; ignorance and hypocrisy
are." Drug addiction is a disease. Drug abuse is a public health problem.
The status quo is not working. It is time for a smarter, medical approach
to our drug problems. I encourage you to join with me and vote yes on
I685.

*Dr. Killian is a boardcertified family physician working here in Tacoma.
He is the sponsor of I685.