The Administration's New Strategy to Fight Illegal Drug Use
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-05-12/administrations-new-strategy-fight-illegal-drug-use
The Obama administration's drug control strategy seeks to balance prevention, treatment and law enforcement. A new approach to reduce America's illegal drug use and its consequences.
Guests
Gil Kerlikowske
director, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Vanda Felbab-Brown
Foreign Policy fellow at the Brookings Institution and adjunct professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, author of Shooting Up: "Counterinsurgency and the War on Drugs"
Peter Reuter
Professor in the School of Public Policy and the Department of Criminology at the University of Maryland
John Walters
Executive Vice President, Hudson Institute. From December 2001 to January 2009, he was director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and a cabinet member during the Bush Administration.
Comments
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Question:
Why is it federally accepted for me to enjoy a (If abused) cancer causing cigarette, and a (if abused) cirrhosis causing drink, but not a (no major side effect proven) joint? Am I missing something? This so called "Gateway" drug is what gets me to sleep so I can work my ass off the next day and pay taxes. I still believe in our free country, and the right to the human inebriation ceremony which has been around since the first fermented grape. Hell, put me in jail and give me three meals a day....
Two words: "harm reduction"; harm reduction should be the goal of dealing with use of all drugs from the food-drug processed sugar to heroin to antibiotics (and for long-term endangerment of the species, antibiotics are the most abused drugs in the pharmacopeia). "Wars" are hopeless, and "fights" and "struggles" a bad idea: the "enemies" are your own citizens.
Rich in California
Richard D. Erlich
711 Island View Circle
Port Hueneme, CA
805-488-9131
ErlichRD@MUOhio.edu
Drug use is not limited to young people, the poor, and so on.
I'm pretty sure there is an epidemic of use of very powerful stimulants - both legal and illegal - by the American ruling class in government, on Wall Street, big business, in academia, law, and so on. Many of these people are clearly hopped up on stimulants, and that is how they get through the day. It was recently revealed during the investigation of the Minerals Management Service that cocaine use was rampant there; and it is well known that use of powerful mind-altering stimulants is common amongst Wall Street types and other people in big business and government.
I often wonder though: is this use of stimulants clouding their judgment leading to irresponsible flights of grandiosity? It sure seems to be - because all 'tweakers' eventually crash back down to Earth.
If we can't keep drugs out of prison, how do we keep them out of a free society?
Why is legalization a non starter? Prohibition has never been an effective government policy for anything. If drugs are legalized they can be taxed and controlled. An effective drug policy will focus on harm reduction with government control not prohibition.
I have some friends in California who pay a "doc" $300 to receive a medicinal marijuana license for made-up "pain" or "anxiety" or "sleeplessness" symptoms. These self-proclaimed "patients" smoke pot multiple times per day and have no plans on stopping anytime soon. This is wide-spread, yet the media does not discuss it. How does this play into what the current administration is trying to do in terms of decreasing drug addiction in this country? Furthermore, are there enough government-funded clinical trials showing marijuana's long-term health effects? Maybe the government should just recommend people use vaporizers to decrease the harmful effects of smoking pot, instead of pretending that they are not doing it.
Hi Diane,
I am mayor of a medium sized town in Maryland. I became aware of how serious the prescription drug problem has become when a 19 year highly placed employee of my town was caught stealing money from the town to support a prescription drug addiction last year. I have since contacted federal and state agencies to try to better understand the magnitude of this issue. It is a very tough problem, and law enforcement, while it may be politically attractive, is not the answer.
Two things jump out at me. The "pain clinics" mentioned on the air need to somehow be held accountable for their actions. The ability to easily get prescriptions for oxycodone and other powerful narcotics needs to be addressed. And the resale market for these drugs is unbelievable. On the black market, these drugs sell for about $1.00 per mg, so a bottle of 120 40 mg. pills has a street value of nearly $5,000. Hence there is an incredible incentive to get these drugs and resell them.
My second point is that drug addiction is a societal problem. Law enforcement alone cannot solve it.
I also bring to your attention a book titled "Stay Close" by Libby Cataldi. This is a personal story of addiction that is incredibly moving and clearly illustrates how difficult this problem is.
Bruce Wahl
Mayor
The Town of Chesapeake Beach, Maryland
It was stated in the show that prescription drug abuse is caused by teenagers raiding their parents medical cabinets. This is a harsh generalization. Although this is one of the causes, prescription drug abuse is also caused by the prescription drug reps, doctors, and all age ranges. Drug abuse is intentionally and unintentionally caused by the elderly, and adults. The difference is, a lot of times the abuse is guided with their physicians by unnecessarily adding more and more doses and other drugs. The main difference is that there's a lesser stigma when the drugs are legally prescribed, but it is the same drug abuse.
Marijuana should be legal. Your guest is making an absurd comparison between legalizing and taxing hemp and weapons grade uranium.
I would like to know what the panel's opinion of methadone clinics is. How are they funded and who is making all the money? Also, what is the success rate for these clinics?
Right, gr8snd. I couldn't believe what I was hearing when Vanda Felbab-Brown equated legalizing pot with providing free access to enriched uranium and legalizing murder. What?
Marijuana is in fact less costly than cigarettes or alcohol. According to a recent Rolling Stone article on the subject of marijuana use in this country, nearly half is home grown in the US and is a superior product to that coming from Mexico vis vis the percentage of THC. I understand that it is common for US citizens who live in Mexico, including in the Mexican Baja, to travel to the US to buy marijuana and take it back into Mexico--its easier, cheaper, safer and better. I believe that your guests are unfamiliar with the realities and that marijuana should not be categorized with cocaine and other addictive narcotics or prescription drugs.
re- the comment by the woman on the show regarding the legalization and decrease of crime (from the former drug dealer caller). Legalizing enriched uranium vs. marijuana are two totally separate issues. Uranium is very rare, and not possible for average people to acquire. You cannot make it in your home, and the supply is very low. Marijuana, on the other hand, is much easier to acquire because it is illegal. When I was in high school, it was significantly easier for students to get than alcohol. There was no one there to I.D. you. Anyone is capable of growing it in their homes.
I see a trend of hypocrisy in society - the previous generation has used marijuana, and now condemns it. Obama, Bush Jr and Clinton all admitted to using it. No parents I know didn't use it, the same as no college students I know have not tried it (only 1 has not I have met in my entire time in college.) Compared to the deaths from alcohol, cigarettes, over the counter drugs, prescription drugs taken as prescribed or abused (take your pick), deaths directly linked to the intake of marijuana are non existent. You cannot overdose, and if not smoked, the health effects are almost non existent. Even withdraw from Marijuana is minimal, even for long time smokers (I've met quite a few who have taken several week to year breaks without much problem.)
Prescription drugs are handed out like candy by doctors. I met a college student who had been prescribed Codine 6 times in one semester. A friend was prescribed Xanax for a bad break up. ADHD medicine is thrown out to anyone who has trouble studying and they are basically Speed! I don't understand why amphetamines and opiates can be prescribed, yet we have a huge issue in this country with medical marijuana, while Marinol (synthetic THC) is legal.
The fact that you state that no one in the panel is "talking about legalizing drugs' says you are not interested in finding a solution.
I completely agree! That alone means all possible options are not being considered.
A democratic country needs to be VERY careful about what it will imprison it's citizens for. Imprisonment must be reserved for actions that do at least 1 of the following three things: Harm another person's person, property or liberty. There is no other justifiable reason to snap up a citizen of a free country and hand them over to the for-profit companies that run our prisons!! The consumption of a common, non-addictive plant does not in any way infringe upon anyone's person, property or liberty. 5,000 of our American brothers and sisters are being snatched up and deposited into a prison system that functions for the benefit of corporate shareholders every day! We cannot pick and choose which liberties are precious to us because they are all precious! I, for example, would not be at all bothered by making all gun ownership illegal but for the obvious infringement on my fellow American's freedom! For that reason alone, I am strongly opposed taking away citizen's guns. Any other position is unpatriotic.
If you look up the side effects of Marinol (dry mouth and a very few other minor sounding ones), the most notable one is "Exaggerated happiness".
Tree of Life - It's TIME to use it for what it is, Tree of Life. Cannabis makes clothes, textiles, MEDICINES, edibles. It is TIME for the PLANT OF RENOWN to be utilized!!! Wake up AMERICA
I expected more from the show and was very disappointed that you did not point out the fallacy in your guest's argument that cannabis trafficking is akin to weapons grade uranium. The two are nowhere near in the same universe. One requires expensive and complex machinery, as well as extensive knowledge of refining and enrichment techniques while the other requires light, water and furtilizer.
The notion that you could compare the two is an insult to your audience and does more harm to the entire argument that the specific plant should remain illegal. It shows a lack of understanding and an effort to distort the facts to suit an increasingly minority view. Rather then resorting to such distortion and misleading your guests should have discussed the successes and failings some european countries have had in legalizing the use of these substances. Some approaches have led to decrease in harder and arguably more harmful drugs use.
Drug use and it's harm to people's lives and society as a whole would not be resolved until we stop making stuff up and start having an respectful and honest discussion of the problems posed by them and possible ways to address the underlying causes of their use and the effects the current approach has in financing and promoting criminal activity.
Mr. Walters seems to think that the law of supply and demand somehow doesn't apply to drug use.
Despite the rhetoric, 64% of the federal drug budget will go to supply-reduction, which means prison and law enforcement, for the most part.
Funding priorities nearly identical to what they've been for decades. We seem not to learn.
What is needed is a real public health approach to the problem of drug abuse. The administration's "new" strategy is basically just the old strategy that has been failing now for over a century. It promises prevention but cuts the funding for prevention. It promises change but continues to do the same things in much the same way. See my review at the website of the National Association for Public Health policy http://www.naphp.org/index.php/fuseaction/magazine.article/articleid/147/
i am from californa in november we well be voting to tax weed watch would bring in over 1 billon dollers to the state. What are your thoughts on this issue
I'm in Calif and hope this passes.
I have two related questions for the pro-legalization camp.
First, is it your belief that the legality or illegality of a given drug makes any significant impact on peoples behavior or choices?
Second - if you believe legal consequences are ineffective and/or unnecessary - what would you recommend as an approach to treating addiction - and who would you ask to pay for it?
Twilligon
I am a clinician in a methadone clinic in Maine. There are clinics which are private, for-profit enterprises, and clinics which are non-profit and funded through medicaid, private insurance or self-pay. Methadone is inexpensive to produce and the amount of money made depends often on how many auxillary services (i.e. counseling, groups, social work) are provided along with the methadone.
The published success rates vary tremendously - primarily contingent upon how you define "success." There are those who believe success is evidenced by overall stability & improved quality of life, and there are those who believe success is absence of any substance use for a lengthy period of time.
Twilligon
Marijuana is supposed to be a gate-way drug. The statement I'm about to make is the real truth. Adults are the gate-way drug. Adults provide drugs, alcohol, pills, and cigaretts to minor, that's the bottom line truth. Most drug and alcohol use start at a young age. If we want to reduce drug use in America we have to take another approach, we have to make penalties so severe for adults who give drugs to kids, say 20 to 25 years to any adult who gives a minor any type of drugs, alcohol, pills and cigaretts. If you trace drugs, alcohol, pills, and cigaretts from a minor to the source, you'll find a adult.
Us adults need to stop blaming others and accept responsibility.
Among minors the gate-way in social enviorment. Whatever the kids friend are into so will the kid be into.
I love your show Diane, but I am extremely disappionted in your response to several callers and guest today........
1. cutting one caller off saying "no one is talking about legalization here". Why not Diane? To dismiss this option, and not invite a guest on the subject, really hurt the credibility of your show today.......
2. when the caller mentioned that he once sold marijuana, you asked him later "when did you first start selling "drugs". Please stop lumping all drugs together. He said he sold marijuana, not "drugs" (ie, heroin, meth)
3. I can't believe that you let the analogy of equating legalization of marijuana with selling uranium and legalizing Murder, slide. I really expected more of you there Diane.
Diane, I'm sorry to say that this was one of the worst shows of yours that I've ever heard. Will you please promise to do a more well balanced show on the subject in the future?....... Thank you.
Anthony, concerned listener.
Get real, its been 40 years since President Nixon began the war on drugs. Its been and will continue to be an abject failure. Over a billion dollars has been spent and countless lives have been adversely affected by the unfair application of the laws surrounding drug use. If you have the money to pay for a referral you can use marijuana, at least in California. If you have the money you can abuse prescription drugs ala Michael Jackson and if you have the money you can walk away without jail time like Rush Limbaugh. Now were going to focus on Drugged Driving? Lets stop lying to each other. Prohibition has failed, move on.
Lets stop lying. The ugly truth is, there is lots of money and property confiscation, and law enforcement jobs that depend on marijuana being illegal. Not to mention competition with the Corporate Drug dealers, fiber, oil, medicine, and other lobbyist business concerns. Don't forget this is a capitalistic society based on two things: profit, and destroying any and all competition from whatever source, domestic and foreign. Even the alcohol, and tobacco industry sees marijuana as a threat to their profit margin. So don't get angry, just follow the "yellow brick road" (gold) and it will lead you to the "Emerald City (cash), and the wicked witch of the east (Federal Reserve N.Y.). Oh, and by the way, "health and safety" are only words used to make a law for some business interest that goes against we the peoples free choice. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
If I was in the enforcement industry, and it was my paycheck to bust into someone’s home (married with children maybe) and create an intensely traumatic level of confusion and fear, and be able to completely rummage with impunity someone’s house or apartment. I would probably love it, and have all the latest weapons and protections (from the courts too), with a whole gang backing me up even if I go to far, or make a mistake and kill some an innocent man, woman, or child. Oh yes, lets not forget to protect the children when they are exposed to mommy and daddy smoking those cigarettes, and getting drunk all the time.
For Gods sake, why would anyone even consider legalizing marijuana when so many jails, government agencies’ revenues, fines, and prisons are depending on us to help support these industries and cash cows? So please help do your part and support fascism (fascism: any movement, ideology, or attitude that favors dictatorial government, centralized control of private enterprise, repression of all opposition, and extreme nationalism). Thank God we don't have any extreme nationalism in this county.