Americans don't like losing - especially
wars. Unfortunately America has lost a big one - the War On Drugs
- and until very recently, no one wanted to talk about. Granted,
it's not a fun thought - losing isn't easy and admitting the fact
that America still has a drug problem isn't easy to swallow...
this is probably why, for many years opposing the Drug War was the realm
of left-wing wackos and Deadheads. Things have changed... if you've
been to the movies in the past five months, there is a pretty good chance
that you saw Traffic, a film that exposes many of the shortcomings
of the War On Drugs... In the Election 2000 cycle the topic of how to
better tackle drugs was addressed (albeit mainly by our man Nader)...
and Bill Clinton - in addition to some questionable decisions - used
his final hours to pardon several women who as girlfriends/wives of
drug dealers were minimally involved in drug offenses, yet were serving
long sentences because they were "co-conspirators" and mandatory
sentencing required the terms.
Finally... it
looks like we're starting to realize what's going on.
Examining this whole "Drug War"
idea, it can be broken down into three separate initiatives: preventing
new drug offenders, punishing drug offenders and stopping the flow of
new drugs... arguably all three have failed.
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Good Intentions, We Think
In addition to the fact that
America is not doing much to effectively prevent new drug users,
is the fact that we really aren't doing well in terms of how we
handle the drug offenders we can catch. A major point that
should be recognized is that our current system of hard line policies
against drug offenders simply isn't cutting it; it's neither fair
nor particularly effective. As the Clinton Pardon illustrated,
there are many times when taking a hard line policy just isn't
right; sure we all feel good knowing that drug dealers won't be
getting any sympathy, but things are not always as black and white...
So, in the meantime, we're ensuring that a whole slew of innocents
will not see justice.
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As of August 2000 in the US prison
system there were 299,811 non-violent drug offenders*; many of
these individuals are not where they are because of a criminal nature
but rather because they are losing a battle with addiction. There is
no emphasis on rehabilitation or treatment - simply punishment.
Not that we are saying drug users shouldn't be punished - but perhaps
there is a better way to handle a non-violent drug offender than to
lock him in with real criminals. Our prisons are clogged
enough as it is and considering that:
a) the high rate of prisoners who
are released to only commit more crimes...
b) studies have shown that there
are better ways to treat non-violent drug offenders than locking the
person in a cell with violent criminals...
...we feel that a serious re-examination
of our imprisonment policies should be undertaken.
There's More Money In Pretending
That We Are Stopping It, Than In Selling It
We hate to play the cynic, but some
facts have to be faced - if looked at realistically, the US really isn't
trying to win the "War On Drugs", or at least not by preventing
the production and sale of drugs. Over the past 20 years - the
time we've really "tried" to stop drugs from entering the
country and being distributed - drugs have not only become higher quality,
they've become cheaper and more readily available. Now, there
are many reasons why this could be, but we think that the motivations
of those who are "stopping" the drugs should be examined.
Last spring an officer from the US Navy who was actively involved in
the fight to stop drug smuggling in Florida, his words were quite interesting.
When queried whether or not he thought we could ever really stop the
smuggling of drugs, he paused and then answered "Yes, I do.
But will it happen? No... If it were to happen, alot of the people
I work with would be out of a job, and they're no interested in seeing
that happen." Realistically, there are many people - individuals
and corporations - who benefit greatly from the War On Drugs... as long
as they have a say, we think the effort to stop the flow of drugs will
also be a failure.
Now What?
So... That's how it breaks down...
We've failed to stop new drug offenders...
We've failed to deal with the drug
offenders we have...
We can't even get rid of the very
root of the problem - the drugs themselves.
What is to be done now is a fantastic
question - one that we can't answer and we doubt anyone else can right
now. What is key - what must be addressed now - is the need to
realistically view our situation. There is no sense in shelling
out millions for programs like D.A.R.E. that do not work... There is
no sense in building more prisons to fill with people who debatably
should not be put in them, and who certainly will not benefit from them...
There is no point in putting in devoting any more manpower to sealing
the borders from drugs until we address the reasons of why we're
even trying to do it in the first place...
We realize that we're being sort
of vague... we do not feel qualified to make definitive statements about
what will or won't win the drug war. In our opinions
it involves removing the desire for the drugs - if prevention programs
actually can be made to work, and rehabilitation programs become effective,
there will no longer be a need for new prisons and the currently self-defeating
effort to stop the flow of drugs.
Blind hard line tactics have lost
the war - a realistic understanding of the situation, from which honest
expectations and rational answers can be developed, is what we think
will win the war.
*236,800 drug offenders in
state prisons, and 63,011 in Federal. Source: Beck, Allen J.,
PhD, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners
in 1999 (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, August 2000), p.
12 and Table 21.
Agree? Disagree? Let us know by emailing
us at advocate@muhlenberg.edu
Useful Links:
- Students
For A Sensible Drug Policy
- Office
Of National Drug Control Policy
