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
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom