Pubdate: Sat, 12 Sep 2015 Source: Boston Globe (MA) Copyright: 2015 Globe Newspaper Company Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340 Website: http://bostonglobe.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52 Author: Joe Megerman Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v15/n508/a06.html A Renewed War on Drugs? SOURCE OF HEROIN CRISIS CAN BE FOUND - IN A COMPLEX WEB OF PLACES William J. Bennett and John P. Walters ("Bring back the war on drugs") compare the current heroin crisis to a cholera epidemic, and argue that, to fix the problem, you just need to shut off the source. They fault President Obama for not doing just that. What a shallow response by former members of the administrations, respectively, of George H.W. and George W. Bush. The heroin crisis reflects a large amount of pain and dysfunction among increasing segments of our society, which presumably drives people to seek pleasure and relief from drugs, legal or not. To my knowledge, no one has ever willingly sought to ingest the cholera bacterium. Clear the drinking water of cholera, and the disease is stopped. Block one source of heroin, and the insatiable demand for the illicit drug will find another source. Do Bennett and Walters really believe the war on drugs was ever successful? Figure out what leads people to seek drugs - whether it's poverty, low self-esteem, untreated pain, or thrill-seeking - and you may have a chance at stemming the tide. Joe Megerman Waltham - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom