Pubdate: Tue, 26 Sep 2000
Source: Reuters
Copyright: 2000 Reuters Limited.
Contact: WAR ON DRUGS NEEDS TO START AT HOME

UTICA, N.Y. (Reuters/Zogby) - Most Americans see the nation's best hope in
winning the war on drugs coming from the family -- not from increased law
enforcement or special government legislative initiatives.

According to a Zogby American Values poll of 1,028 adults nationwide, 60.5%
of Americans agree that better parenting and stronger families are the best
answers to curbing drug use. This poll has a margin of error of 3.2%.

A distant second choice (10.3%) of the respondents was molding U. S.
foreign trade policy to reflect how well each respective trading partner
complies with our efforts to control drug traffic.

Nearly as many (9.7%) thought that the decriminalization of marijuana usage
would have the greatest immediate impact in the drug war. This was followed
by a strong anti-drug president in the White House.

Only 4.6% thought that pouring more money into the fight was the best bet,
3% identified another possible solution and another 2.6% were not sure.

What we asked: Which of the following do you think would best help America
fight the war on drugs? Better parenting/stronger families, Spend more
money on fighting illegal drugs, Legalization of marijuana, Basing our
foreign trade on how well a country cooperates with the US in fighting drug
traffic, or a strong opponent of illegal drugs in the White House?
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MAP posted-by: Eric Ernst