DRUG WAR DISTORTIONS

IN ACKNOWLEDGING that opium production is on the rise in Afghanistan, Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has suddenly enlisted as a demand-side soldier in
the war on drugs -- a move that is most welcome if it spreads to others in the
Bush administration. For more than two decades, Washington's war on drugs has
tilted heavily toward supply-side strategies: arresting drug smugglers and
dealers; defoliating coca fields; attempting to squeeze off the production and
availability of narcotics.

But this approach has failed in Afghanistan, where US forces and the US-backed
government have been less effective than the Taliban in controlling the
production of opium and heroin.

"My impression is that in a very real sense it's a demand problem," Rumsfeld
said Thursday in a town hall question-and-answer session with civilian and
military employees of the Pentagon. "It's a problem that there are a lot of
people who want it, a lot of people with money who will pay for it, a lot of
people who will steal from others to pay for it."

As for Afghanistan, Rumsfeld said, "You ask what we're going to do and the
answer is I don't really know."

This shrug of impotence contrasts sharply with America's aggressive drug policy
elsewhere. In Colombia, $1.6 billion goes into the effort annually, making it
the third-largest recipient of US dollars after Israel and Egypt.

In the end, Rumsfeld characterized drug use as "a whale of a tough problem. And
I'm afraid that the ultimate solution for that is going to be probably found by
attacking it in all directions, not just the supply side but the education and
demand side as well."

Rumsfeld's specialty is military conflicts, but his candid assessment should be
a lesson to those leading the war on drugs. Will Glaspy, spokesman for the Drug
Enforcement Administration, insists the overall policy is balanced, "combining
strong enforcement with education and treatment. We know we can't arrest our
way out of it."

Yet the proportion of federal drug funds going to treatment was cut in half
during the Reagan administration and has never recovered. And with nearly all
50 states slashing budgets in response to revenue shortfalls, state and local
drug treatment facilities have been hard hit, including in Massachusetts.

Those fighting drug abuse cannot avoid supply. The blooming poppy fields of
Afghanistan -- once again the world's leading supplier of opium -- are a
deserved embarrassment to the United States.

But Rumsfeld is right in pointing to the other side of the market. There will
be few victories in the war on drugs until effective treatment and education
lower demand. But Rumsfeld is right in pointing to the other side of the
market. There will be few victories in the war on drugs until effective
treatment and education lower demand.