116 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
116 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
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presents
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Pot Reform
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by
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Fetal Juice
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Toxic File #78
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States spent approximately $10 billion on
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drug-related law enforcement, while drug criminals earned at least
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$110 billion in profits. Meanwhile drug-related crime, especially in
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our cities, simply got worse.
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The harder we try to use criminal law to stamp out drug abuse,
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the greater the financial incentives become to deal drugs. Thus our
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drug policies aren't just failing, they're self-defeating.
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Since 1914 the policy of the United States has been to treat the
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use of drugs in this country as a criminal offence. In 1936 August
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Vollmer, a former president of the International Association of Chiefs
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of Police, said, "Drug addiction is not a police problem: it has never
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been and never can be solved by policemen. Drug abuse is a medical
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problem, and if there is a solution it will be discovered by
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scientific and medical experts."
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Our strategy of using criminal law to end drug abuse is a
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mistake. We need to revise our approach, enlist new leaders, and
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begin again. Although the criminal justice system should still play a
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role in controlling drugs, our policies should focus on public health
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strategies.
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As former state's attorney for the city of Baltimore and a
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veteran of the war against drugs. I know that our strategy hasn't
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worked. Nevertheless, we can beat the traffickers and control our
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complex drug problem if we're willing to substitute common sense for
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myth, rhetoric, and blind persistence.
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We must begin thinking about decriminalizing some drugs. We
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haven't made cigarettes illegal. Yet according to a report from the
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Department of Health and Human Services, cigarettes account for up to
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350,000 deaths a year. Instead we have left it to the public health
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system to address the problems related to nicotine addiction, and
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fewer people are now smoking.
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As for alcohol, we tried to make it illegal and learned a painful
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lesson: if the goverment dosen't regulate substances of abuse like
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alcohol, we bring a reign of terror down on our cities. It is time we
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learned the lesson of Prohibition and eliminated the only reason drug
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criminals stay in business - billons of dollars in profits. This
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could be done by bringing our population of addicts to the public
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health system and out of the dark alleys, where the price, quality,
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and quantity of drugs are controlled by organized crime.
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Providing drugs to addicts under medical auspicies is a sensible
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policy. In the early 1900's the Shreveport Clinic in Shreveport,
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Louisiana, distributed narcotics to people who had become dependent on
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drugs. In an investigation of the clinic in 1921, Federal District
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Judge George Jack warnbed that he would oppose any steps toward a
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discontinuance of the clinic, because "it had lessened crime in the
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city." The chief of police, the sheriff, and the United States
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marshal in Shreveport all agreed that the clinic helped reduce crime.
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Other societies have successfully adopted public health
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approaches to controlling drug abuse. The Dutch goverment, for
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instance, has merged various programs related to the abuse of
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addictive substances under one branch of their health ministry. Under
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the ministry's direction, the Dutch have established an effective
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needle-exchange program for intravenous drug users (used needles are
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exchanged for new ones), and drug treatment is available for those who
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want it. On the enforcement side, the Dutch have decriminalized the
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possession and sale of marijuana, while continuing to enforce laws
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against trafficking in cocain and heroin. The purpose of the Dutch
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drug policy is to reduce the risks associated with drug use, such as
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blood-borne diseases like AIDS and hepatitis, for those addicts who
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won't or can't give up their addiction and to avoid placing an
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excessive burden on the criminal justice system. A decline in
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marijuana use as occurred since the Dutch decriminalization policy
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began.
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Led by the Mersey Regional Drug Training and Information Centre
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in Liverpool, the British have also used health strategies to
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effectively confront drug abuse. The Mersey clinic offers a broad
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range of help to addicts, including a needle-exchange program,
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prescriptions for heroin and cocaine; and methadone and drug-free
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treatment, such as counseling upon a demand. It is believed the
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availability of treatment has helped prevent the spread of HIV
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infection in the clinic's population.
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To redefine our national drug policies, I recommend we eliminate
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criminal penalties for marijuana possession and redirect funding from
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law enforcement efforts to drug-abuse prevention and education
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programs. We need to pass laws that permit health professionals to
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distribute methadone, heroin, and cocaine to addicts as part of
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supervised maintenance or treatment programs. We need to establish an
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independent commission to study substances that are abused and based
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on their potential harm make recommendations on how they should be
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regulated. Finally, the war on drugs should be led by the surgeon
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general, not by the attorney general.
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If all this were accomplished, we could look forward to a
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brighter future for the vast majority of people who live in our
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communities. Finding ways to confront and control the problems
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associated with drug abuse would provide the American people with a
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safer, stabler, more productive society.
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(c)July 1990 Fetal Juice/Toxic Shock
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