GOVERNMENT ADDICTED TO FAILED WAR ON DRUGS

Those who advocate treatment as a more effective approach to drug abuse
than prison have a new and unlikely poster child.

Rush Limbaugh.

Long a supporter of sending drug addicts "up the river," including those
hooked on prescription medications, Limbaugh now resides on the wrong side
of his own line in the sand. I hope his stint in drug rehab will render him
"born again" on this issue.

I have no interest in vilifying Rush Limbaugh for being a drug addict. This
unhappy condition can befall anyone regardless of income, race,
intelligence or ideology.

Misconstrued as a failure of character, drug abuse is actually a medical
disease requiring compassionate care rather than punitive incarceration.
Future generations will likely regard our current "war on drugs" as a
misguided and inhumane response to a public health crisis.

They may compare our actions to the mistreatment of the mentally ill in the
19th and early 20th centuries.

The "dollars and sense" case for addressing drug abuse with a public health
approach is overwhelming; just read up on Prohibition. But leave it to our
political leaders to not let facts interfere with pandering to public
misconceptions in pursuit of votes.

A highly respected Rand Corp. study determined that treatment for drug
abuse is seven times more cost-effective than law enforcement in reducing -
that's right - reducing the use of illegal drugs. But this year state and
federal governments will waste over $40 billion of your taxes on the war on
drugs while having little impact on drug use.

It is estimated that about 3.6 million Americans are chronic users of
illicit drugs, yet only half of them can afford treatment. Limbaugh, being
a man of means, has ready access to the best possible care for his addiction.

About 1.6 million drug users are arrested annually, most for possession,
not sale. Perhaps we should arrest obese people caught consuming frozen
custard; after all, they suffer from a medical condition not unlike drug
addiction, and it is associated with increased morbidity and rising health
care costs.

Consider that such conservative voices as William F. Buckley Jr., Milton
Friedman, New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, and Ronald Reagan's Secretary of
State, George Shultz, have come out in favor of decriminalization.

Why? It's the facts, ma'am.

In the United States, use of illegal drugs kills about 4,500 people each
year, or about 1% of the number killed by alcohol and tobacco. In fact,
tobacco will kill more people this year than all illegal drugs have in the
last century.

Consider marijuana, the most-used illegal drug. There are no documented
cases of anyone dying from it, ever.

In contrast, Oxycontin (Limbaugh's drug of choice), with far fewer users,
causes several hundred deaths annually. But, hey, it's legal.

I sincerely hope Rush kicks his habit. And I also hope he becomes an
eloquent proponent of drug treatment instead of jail.

Because the war on drugs is as ill-conceived, wasteful and ineffective a
campaign as this nation has ever waged.

Just say "No!" to the war on drugs.
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NOTE: Author Philip Chard is a psychotherapist, author and trainer. Names
used in this column are changed to honor client confidentiality. Visit
www.healingnature.com.
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