THE U.S. WAR ON DRUGS ISN'T WORKING

Editor, the News-Sentinel:

No one wants our nation's children to become victims of drug abuse. As a
mother, I understand the desire to prevent children and teenagers from
making regrettable mistakes. As a citizen, I affirm society's
responsibility to nurture our most valuable assets.

Catherine Thatcher Brunson is right to be concerned about our children. But
do our nation's current drug policies, as supported in her citizen's voice
column on Dec. 29, really protect our children from the problems of drug
abuse? Absolutely not.

Children are often collateral damage in the destructive war on drugs, which
is a war on American citizens.

The prison population has expanded exponentially since the 1980s, largely
because of the war on drugs. Over 1.5 million children have a parent in the
prison system, and children of the incarcerated make up 90 percent of those
in long-term foster care.

Children in foster care have higher rates of academic failure, truancy,
violence, theft, teen pregnancy - and, ironically, drug abuse. The
Department of Justice's own statistics show that most drug war prisoners
are nonviolent and otherwise noncriminal. Are their children really better
off without them?

For a moment, let's ignore the Orwellian aspects of the Office of National
Drug Control Policy's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign.

Let's pretend that they aren't requiring prior script approval for TV shows
and millions of dollars in free advertising.

Does this advertising campaign work? These thinly veiled propaganda pieces
absurdly claim that marijuana use kills people and all drug sales fund
terrorists.

Teenagers are much more sophisticated than most adults realize, and the
Annenberg Public Policy Center found that teens who view these ads are
actually more likely to try drugs.

It is clear that the war on drugs has failed to prevent children from
obtaining illegal drugs. Most teenagers can find marijuana easily.

Though it seems anti-intuitive, legalization and regulation of such drugs
as marijuana would likely reduce the availability of drugs to minors. Think
about it: When have you ever heard of a drug dealer who "cards"?

The normalization of drugs in society has already occurred - not just in
East Tennessee but in every society all over the world, thousands of years ago.

How many people flaunt their behavior by lining up in coffee shops (illegal
in 16th century Turkey) or by ordering chocolate for dessert?

Teenagers need factual, not fictional, information in order to form healthy
relationships with drugs.

This is especially important with alcohol and tobacco, our nation's most
devastating drugs.

Rachel Sewell Nesteruk, Oak Ridge