Source: The Denver Post Pubdate: Wed, 07 Jul 1999 Contact: 1999 The Denver Post Website: http://www.denverpost.com/ Author: Pius K. Kamau, MD Note: Dr. Kamau is a cardiovascular, thoracic and general-surgery physician. He was born and raised in Kenya and immigrated to the United States in 1971. AMERICA'S LOST WAR ON DRUGS AURORA -- America's war on drugs has been fought for a quarter of a century and dismally lost. Even though America's drug warriors won't admit to defeat, more and more discordant voices of enlightenment are rising above the general cacophony. They encourage us to reexamine the war, the enemy, the casualties and the price paid. Most of the effort and resources have gone into interdiction -- attempting to stem the flow, to eradicate the source and impede the transportation of drugs. But since the demand has remained extremely high, suppliers have found the most creative and ingenious ways to deliver the merchandise to us. Authorities of the Drug Enforcement Agency have been caught between two indomitable forces -- unscrupulous and highly motivated suppliers and an insatiable drug consumer -- the American public. The war on drugs was fought on faith, prejudice and pride, and pretty little logic. We all remember the simplistic statement -- "Just say no." Unfortunately that didn't work, for faced with mounds of cocaine at parties, few Americans have said no to the thrill. Laws passed to discourage drug use and driven more by vindictiveness and less by a sense of justice have had a bitter harvest indeed. Whole inner city "villages" languish in our jails as a result of police action, where a gram of cheap crack cocaine (used by poor inner city blacks) earns one 20 years in jail, and a gram of refined, more expensive powder cocaine (used by upscale suburbanites) and a good lawyer earns one probation. No matter how many users we lock up, Americans' craving for drugs hasn't diminished. We've used precious dollars, not to educate but to build jails and to incarcerate. Few politicians have dared to suggest we change directions: They need to be seen as being tough on criminals. The drug-war strategy has failed because of two things: Americans' love affair with drugs and ignorance of the pathophysiology of drug addiction. As is true in alcohol consumption, there are two types of drug users: the recreational and the more easily addicted; the casual user and the abuser. We manage the problematic alcoholic not by incarceration but with therapy and education. Yet, we have difficulty extrapolating this approach to cocaine and other drugs, even though the mechanisms of addiction are similar. We know that certain families have a chemical predilection to alcoholism. Similarly, drug addiction is a manifestation of chemical derangement, psychic and psychological need, which lends itself to treatment. We know our borders are more porous than a sieve and less than 10 percent of all cocaine is ever interdicted. So why do we spend billions on this foolish and foolhardy effort? Because it's politically correct. What is reasonable and logical is to spend more resources to treat the addicted in our midst and our jails. Addicts in our jails receive little attention, certainly little therapy. And when we release them into society they're usually no better than when we put them away. America needs to spend the billions it fritters away on the high-tech drug war on low-tech education, therapy and decreasing drug demand. This should include changing Americans' attitudes toward drugs and pills, reducing our penchant for a pill for each malady, each ache. We should empower families and teachers and make them partners in the war against drug use and addiction. The war front is at home, in our families. The enemy is here; he's us. We need to rewrite our laws so there's justice and equality. Perhaps decriminalizing addiction and the possession of small amounts of cocaine and other drugs isn't such a crazy idea after all. Many think the time for this is at hand. The hallmark of a good therapist is open mindedness; the posture that if a given therapy hasn't worked for decades, then perhaps changing course would be most logical. There is no doubt that what we've done so far, hasn't worked. We need a new strategy if the war is to be won. - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder