One of America's greatest mistakes over the last century was the war on drugs, so it's thrilling to see voters in red and blue states alike moving to unwind it. The most important step is coming in Oregon, where voters easily passed a referendum that will decriminalize possession of even hard drugs like cocaine and heroin, while helping users get treatment for addiction. The idea is to address drug use as a public health crisis more than as a criminal justice issue. [continues 773 words]
SEATTLE - On gritty streets where heroin, fentanyl and meth stride like Death Eaters, where for decades both drugs and the war on drugs have wrecked lives, the city of Seattle is pioneering a bold approach to narcotics that should be a model for America. Anyone caught here with a small amount of drugs - even heroin - isn't typically prosecuted. Instead, that person is steered toward social services to get help. This model is becoming the consensus preference among public health experts in the U.S. and abroad. Still, it shocks many Americans to see no criminal penalty for using drugs illegally, so it takes courage and vision to adopt this approach: a partial retreat in the war on drugs coupled with a stepped-up campaign against addiction. [continues 2455 words]
Portugal treats addiction as a disease, not a crime. LISBON - On a broken-down set of steps, a 37-year-old fisherman named Mario mixed heroin and cocaine and carefully prepared a hypodermic needle. "It's hard to find a vein," he said, but he finally found one in his forearm and injected himself with the brown liquid. Blood trickled from his arm and pooled on the step, but he was oblivious. "Are you O.K.?" Rita Lopes, a psychologist working for an outreach program called Crescer, asked him. "You're not taking too much?" Lopes monitors Portuguese heroin users like Mario, gently encourages them to try to quit and gives them clean hypodermics to prevent the spread of AIDS. [continues 2049 words]
If you think that protests about overzealous law enforcement are over the top, listen to what unfolded when the police suspected that David Eckert, 54, was hiding drugs in his rectum. Eckert is a shy junk dealer struggling to get by in Hidalgo County, N.M. He lives a working-class life, drives a 16-year-old pickup and was convicted in 2008 of methamphetamine possession. Police officers, suspecting he might still be involved in drugs, asked him to step out of his pickup early last year after stopping him for a supposed traffic violation. No drugs or weapons were found on Eckert or in his truck, but a police dog showed interest in the vehicle and an officer wrote that Eckert's posture was "erect and he kept his legs together." [continues 527 words]
If you think that protests about overzealous law enforcement are over the top, listen to what unfolded when the police suspected that David Eckert, 54, was hiding drugs in his rectum. Eckert is a shy junk dealer struggling to get by in Hidalgo County, N.M. He lives a working-class life, drives a 16-year-old pickup and was convicted in 2008 of methamphetamine possession. Police officers, suspecting he might still be involved in drugs, asked him to step out of his pickup early last year after stopping him for a supposed traffic violation. No drugs or weapons were found on Eckert or in his truck, but a police dog showed interest in the vehicle and an officer wrote that Eckert's posture was "erect and he kept his legs together." [continues 702 words]
IF you want to understand all that is wrong with America's criminal justice system, take a look at the nightmare experienced by Edward Young. Young, now 43, was convicted of several burglaries as a young man but then resolved that he would turn his life around. Released from prison in 1996, he married, worked six days a week, and raised four children in Hixson, Tenn. Then a neighbor died, and his widow, Neva Mumpower, asked Young to help sell her husband's belongings. He later found, mixed in among them, seven shotgun shells, and he put them aside so that his children wouldn't find them. [continues 1123 words]
LOS ANGELES - I dropped in on a marijuana shop here that proudly boasted that it sells "31 flavors." It also offered a loyalty program. For every 10 purchases of pot -- supposedly for medical uses -- you get one free packet. "There are five of these shops within a three-block radius," explained the proprietor, Edward J. Kim. He brimmed with pride at his inventory and sounded like any small businessman as he complained about onerous government regulation. Like, well, state and federal laws. [continues 756 words]
At a time when Americans may abandon health-care reform because it supposedly is "too expensive," how is it that we can afford to imprison people like Curtis Wilkerson? Wilkerson is serving a life sentence in California -- for stealing a $2.50 pair of socks. As The Economist noted, he already had two offences on his record (both for abetting robbery at age 19) and so the "three strikes" law resulted in a life sentence. This is unjust, of course. But considering that California spends almost $49,000 annually per inmate, it's also an extraordinary waste of money. [continues 704 words]
At a time when we Americans may abandon health care reform because it supposedly is "too expensive," how is it that we can afford to imprison people like Curtis Wilkerson? Mr. Wilkerson is serving a life sentence in California -- for stealing a $2.50 pair of socks. As The Economist noted recently, he already had two offenses on his record (both for abetting robbery at age 19), and so the "three strikes" law resulted in a life sentence. This is unjust, of course. But considering that California spends almost $49,000 annually per prison inmate, it's also an extraordinary waste of money. [continues 720 words]
This year marks the 40th anniversary of President Nixon's start of the war on drugs, and it now appears that drugs have won. "We've spent a trillion dollars prosecuting the war on drugs," Norm Stamper, a former police chief of Seattle, told me. "What do we have to show for it? Drugs are more readily available, at lower prices and higher levels of potency. It's a dismal failure." For that reason, he favors legalization of drugs, perhaps by the equivalent of state liquor stores or registered pharmacists. Other experts favor keeping drug production and sales illegal but decriminalizing possession, as some foreign countries have done. [continues 532 words]
This year marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's start of the war on drugs, and it now appears that drugs have won. "We've spent a trillion dollars prosecuting the war on drugs," Norm Stamper, a former police chief of Seattle, told me. "What do we have to show for it? Drugs are more readily available, at lower prices and higher levels of potency. It's a dismal failure." For that reason, he favors legalization of drugs, perhaps by the equivalent of state liquor stores or registered pharmacists. Other experts favor keeping drug production and sales illegal but decriminalizing possession, as some foreign countries have done. [continues 697 words]
"We've spent a trillion dollars prosecuting the war on drugs," Norm Stamper, a former police chief of Seattle, told columnist Nicholas D. Kristof. "What do we have to show for it? Drugs are more readily available, at lower prices and higher levels of potency. It's a dismal failure." Decriminalization of many drugs may be the way to go. This year marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's start of the war on drugs, and it now appears that drugs have won. [continues 787 words]
This year marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's start of the war on drugs, and it now appears that drugs have won. "We've spent a trillion dollars prosecuting the war on drugs," Norm Stamper, a former police chief of Seattle, told me. "What do we have to show for it? Drugs are more readily available, at lower prices and higher levels of potency. It's a dismal failure." For that reason, he favors legalization of drugs, perhaps by the equivalent of state liquor stores or registered pharmacists. Other experts favor keeping drug production and sales illegal but decriminalizing possession, as some foreign countries have done. [continues 702 words]
For seven years, Democrats have rightfully complained that President Bush has gratuitously antagonized the world, exasperating our allies and eroding America's standing and influence. But now the Democrats are doing the same thing on trade. In Latin America, it is Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton who are seen as the go-it-alone cowboys, by opposing the United States' free-trade agreement with Colombia. Some Democrats claim they are against the pact because Colombia has abused human rights. Those concerns are legitimate - but they shouldn't be used to punish people like Norma Reynosa, a 35-year-old woman who just may snip the flowers that go into the Mother's Day bouquet that you buy. [continues 536 words]
Here's a foreign affairs quiz: 1. In the two years since the war in Afghanistan, opium production has: (A) virtually been eliminated by Hamid Karzai's government and American forces. (B) declined 30 percent, but eradication is not expected until 2008. (C) soared nineteenfold and become the major source of the world's heroin. 2. In Paktika and Zabul, two religiously conservative parts of Afghanistan, the number of children going to school: (A) has quintupled, with most girls at least finishing third grade. [continues 499 words]
