Pubdate: Wed, 08 Oct 2003 Source: DrugWar (US Web) Copyright: 2003 Kalyx com Contact: http://www.drugwar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2410 Author: Stephen Heath Note: Stephen Heath is the Public Relations Director for the Drug Policy Forum of Florida, Clearwater, http://www.dpffl.org He also works with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) http://www.leap.cc/ Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Jeb+Bush Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/James+McDonough THANK YOU JEB AND JIM Elected officials do jobs that are often thankless. Well we're here to thank Governor Jeb Bush and his drug czar James McDonough for their drug policies, now in effect for almost five years. First in line to thank Jeb and Jim are treatment centers and recovery programs in strong need of state funding. While many centers do take in revenue via insurance payouts and patients who can pay, the majority deal with clients less able. The 2003 budget passed in Tallahassee slashed state funding by over 25%. Bush did nothing to fight these cuts, which were not publicized until a few weeks after his daughter Noelle successfully completed her own 18 month state funded drug treatment program in Orlando. People with true drug abuse problems should also thank Jeb and Jim, though by their count this includes over 1.5 million Floridians. In Jeb and Jim's policy, any use of illegal drugs, including occasional use of marijuana, constitutes Abuse. Therefore, every pot user that can be arrested and jailed is now 'clean' and can be included as part of Bush's stated goal to cut drug abuse in Florida 50% by 2005. Meanwhile, those with actual dependency and abuse issues are put on lengthy waiting lists for treatment centers clogged with court-ordered marijuana offenders who must be 'cured' of their pot use. Minority communities owe Jeb and Jim thanks. McDonough's alleged 'balance between treatment, prevention and enforcement' is marked by cuts in treatment spending and increases in massive police actions like those conducted in Tampa and St. Petersburg this past summer, when almost 1000 people were arrested - most of who were minorities. While white citizens make up 65% of the population they get 72% of the drug and alcohol treatment admissions in Florida and only account for 25% of the state prison admissions for drugs. Meanwhile, Blacks get 22% of treatment admissions and 73% of prison admissions for drugs while only 14% of the state population. Doctors can be thankful as they try to decipher unwritten guidelines from McDonough's office restricting how they can prescribe pain drugs without being subjected to arrest and prosecution. Patients in need thus enjoy lack of access to needed medicines, simply because a few irresponsible people choose to abuse them. Speaking of patients, medical marijuana patients can thank Jeb and Jim for their being subject to arrest and prison if they prefer using pot to heavy duty, addictive narcotics from the pharmacy. This even as Canada, most of Western Europe and nine U.S. states have legalized marijuana for medical reasons. Saddest of all, morticians statewide have increased business thanks to Tallahassee drug policies. Cocaine related deaths are up 23% since 1999 and heroin deaths are up 25%. Total drug-related deaths have increased 17% since the FME began tracking drug deaths in 2000. How about the kids of Florida? They can thank Jeb and Jim for being utterly confused about drugs in general. Children as young as six years old in the care of DCF are routinely administered psychotropic drugs as a means of behavior control. Other kids wonder why their friends' parents can drink all the alcohol they wish, while their own parents who prefer marijuana at home are deemed criminals. Our youth are taught anti-drug programs in schools by armed police officers. Then they observe other police officers enjoying tobacco and/or alcohol in their off hours, while the DARE officer tells them being drug-free is cool. Lest the above accolades seem dubious in nature, there is one group from which Jeb and Jim do warrant a standing ovation. That would be the prison-industrial complex. No state in the union enjoyed the 3.9% increase in new inmates that Florida experienced this past June, thanks primarily to drug arrests. McDonough insists that only 'repeat offenders' and 'drug sellers' go to Florida prisons. What he doesn't tell you is that for thousands annually, the repeat offense could be something as minor as failing a urine test while on probation, or being caught a second time with a bag of pot or a few grams of cocaine. And this utterly discounts the effect of losing six months to a year housed in a county jail for simple drug possesion, which is the fate for thousands more every month statewide. Even as drug treatment funds are being eliminated within the prison system, Bush is asking for $66 million in new tax dollars to build another 4000 prison beds. In light of McDonough's repeated declarations about how treatment is smarter financially than jailing drug offenders, Bush is basically telling taxpayers he will spend in the less productive fashion. So take a bow, Governor Bush and Czar McDonough. You've earned the applause. Unfortunately, Florida must live with the effects of your drug policy priorities for at least the next three years. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake