The main policy goal should be to minimize the aggregate societal damage associated with drug use. "Fanaticism," says Santayana, "consists of redoubling your efforts when you have lost sight of your aim." An old Alcoholics Anonymous adage defines insanity as "continuing to do the same thing and expecting to get a different result." Between them, these two aphorisms define the condition of U.S. drug policy and the public debate about it. [continues 4662 words]
Avram Goldstein, Addiction: From Biology to Drug Policy. New York: W.H Freeman & Co., 1993. Mark Kleiman, Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results. New York: Basic Books, 1992. Robert MacCoun and Peter Reuter, Beyond the Drug War: Learning From Other Places, Other Times, and Other Vices. Cambridge University Press, forthcoming. Peter Reuter, "Why Can't We Make Prohibition Work Better?" Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 141, No. 3, September, 1997. Peter Reuter, "After the Borders are Sealed: Can Domestic Sources Substitute for Imported Drugs?," Drug Policy in the Americas. Santa Monica, Calif: The RAND Corporation, 1992. [continues 110 words]
