SEARCH FOR BEST OPTIONS FOR DRUG ABUSE

Hello armchair CSIs. For this "Guam Forensic Forum," I want to talk
about a little drug abuse survey I conducted recently as part of my
class on drugs and crime.

While surveying my small pool of students may not be an entirely
valid method of data collection, it is nonetheless an interesting
review of the opinions of my criminal justice students. So let me
summarize their collective attitudes which I found interesting and informative:

Nearly everyone agreed that drug abuse is a serious problem.

They were split on whether the federal government should be engaged
in drug interdiction in foreign countries.

They were nearly unanimous on legalizing medical marijuana for
specifically approved medical treatment.

They were almost unanimous on not legalizing drugs of abuse.

They were split down the middle on capital punishment for drug traffickers.

They were also split on whether our drug offender laws are fair and balanced.

Without fail, I always learn from my students. I have never been
disappointed and teaching helps me better understand people and their
concerns. To my students, thank you for sharing your perspectives and
for exploring topics together.

Just what did I learn this semester? Over the last 40 years, my
opinion on drug abuse and solutions to the challenges they pose to
our community, friends and families has changed. I have taken extreme
positions in internal debate about solving the drug-abuse problem and
have self-argued the pros and cons of severe options that researchers
and policymakers have debated for decades. Clearly, substance-abuse
problems will continue to challenge our people.

So is there one best option for the substance abuse problem? We can opt to:

Mandate harsher prison sentences;

Legalize or decriminalize drug use;

Focus more on education/prevention and rehabilitation/treatment; or

Ignore the problem and it will magically go away.

If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I want to sell you.

We could adopt the Netherlands' approach, which decriminalizes simple
possession and use. They view drug addiction more as a medical
problem and less as a crime. The hard-core drug trafficker is viewed
as a criminal. However, their criminal sanctions are less severe than ours.

Guam law, with respect to marijuana, was decriminalized years ago, so
simple possession for small quantities is a violation which is less
than a misdemeanor offense. Some advocate legalization of marijuana
and other substances. Others advocate harder sanctions for
possession, abuse and distribution.

What about medical use of marijuana? I listened to Dr. Tom Shieh when
he discussed his position on the matter. He suggested that medical
experts should decide how to treat and what to prescribe. It's hard
for me to argue against Dr. Shieh. There are a few compelling
arguments about the benefits for the treatment and care of certain
medical problems. So like my students, I am inclined to support
prescription marijuana for very specific purposes, with proper
controls and strict inspection protocol.

The problem we have is that there is no end to creative organic
chemistry and just as fast as substances with potential abuse are
identified and placed on the restricted list by DEA, other chemicals
replace them. The cat-and-mouse game continues and we regularly see
new stuff like "spice" being manufactured and marketed. The
traffickers are so creative in their packaging and distribution that
the game will never end.

Over the past years, better treatment and rehabilitation programs
have evolved to help addicts. I want to thank the treatment
volunteers and employees of government and non-government
organizations who wage the daily battle to help addicts. They give to
our people in so many special ways with their time and patient support.

Let's thank Lighthouse Recovery, Oasis, Sanctuary, New Beginnings,
the juvenile and adult drug courts, federal treatment court, and
others who help. There is no end to the need to help people with
substance-abuse problems.

Because I believe that substance abuse is here to stay, we must
continue to search for the best options to insure a safe community.
The options to minimize criminal and safety impact of illegal
substances include the need to:

Improve substance-abuse education and prevention to discourage people
from chemical escape and experimentation;

*Improve our rehabilitation and treatment programs;

*Enforce our drug laws because traffickers and violent offenders will
continue to prey on others.

Did I answer the question or raise new ones? Let's think and talk some more.