WHY THE WAR ON DRUGS IS WRONG,

TERRIBLY WRONG

The Honolulu Advertiser, July 23, 1995, p. B4

By Donald Topping

A growing number of distinguished critics, including Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman, columnist William F. Buckley, Jr., and, quite recently, Walter Cronkite, have stated that the War on Drugs is a failure. And yet the policies remain unchanged, supported by billions of taxpayer dollars. The results? Prisons are overflowing with non-violent felons; constitutional rights are being trampled; drug use is increasing, especially among youth; street violence is at an all-time high; and drugs of every kind are readily available in every city, town and hamlet throughout the land.

It should be obvious after eighty years of prohibition that this militant approach doesn't work. Yet, we cling desperately to the forlorn hope that just one more law, one more prison, and one more billion dollars will bring victory in the War on SOME Drugs. For those who remember the Vietnam war, this has a familiar ring.

Ironically, the two most harmful and addictive substances - alcohol and tobacco - are not only ignored, they are supported by government subsidies and vigorously promoted through advertising, even though they directly cause nearly a half-million deaths per year in the U.S., not to mention the rampant violence generated by alcohol. Such blatant hypocrisy is difficult to explain, especially to our youth.

Given the obvious failure of our current drug policy, how can we explain the widespread support? In the first place, the War on Drugs is a gigantic industry, fueled by billions of tax dollars, most of which are spent for policing, arresting and incarcerating non-violent people who use and sell illegal drugs to people who want them. Indeed, the War on Drugs is a boom industry, including the multi-billion dollar black market which flourishes from prohibition. Some critics refer to this as "government-subsidized crime."

Another reason for continuing a failed policy is the success of the war propagandists, inclulding journalists, who have demonized certain drugs and the people who use them. Never before have so many been deceived about so much by so few. With a public convinced that certain drugs are inherently evil and lead to acts of violence and crime - a claim which has no scientific or empirical foundation, except for alcohol - policy makers have played to their worst fears with more and more laws with increasingly harsh penalties. Being seen as "soft on drugs", or even suggesting that the policies be re-considered is political suicide.

When we examine the long and complex history of anti-drug laws in the U.S. (82 were enacted between 1961 and 1992), it is apparent that none of them was based upon knowledge of pharmacology or concern for public health and safety. Rather, they were motivated by the convergence of three principal forces: 1) moral imperialists, who argue that private, personal behavior should be legislated; 2) ignorance of pharmacology and addiction, perpetuated by uninformed "experts" in politics, law enforcement and the media; 3) power that derives from the multi-billion dollar drug-war enterprise.

The War on SOME Drugs is, in effect, a war against ourselves which nobody can win. The policy forces us to criminalize and marginalize those who, for whatever reason, use the illicit substances, some of which are potentially addictive. If drug addiction is the real problem, we need to find better ways to deal with it. Call it a disease, psychological disorder, or even moral weakness, addiction is not a crime. Criminalizing and marginalizing drug addicts is not the solution. They need help, not punishment.

Other countries, such as Australia, Switzerland, Germany and England are trying alternative approaches which focus on public health and safety. Acknowledging that the use of mood-altering substances is as natural and old as human social organization, and that the War on Drugs has failed, they are shifting focus to reduce the harm caused by the use of all drugs and the attempts to eliminate them. Could it be that they are developing a more effective approach to the problem? Might we even learn something from them?

In spite of our best efforts, the largest prison population in the world, and astronomical sums of money, we are losing the War on Drugs. It is draining our resources, ripping apart our social fabric, filling our prisons, and marginalizing millions of our fellow citizens. The question now becomes, shall we continue down the same dreary path? Or, are we ready to admit failure and talk about alternative solutions? Heaven forbid that we must await another Robert McNamara to tell us thirty years from now that this war is "wrong, terribly wrong?"