U.S. rethinks strategy after failure of "war on drugs"

    by Xinhua writer Yang Qingchuan     WASHINGTON, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Not long before this year's International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which falls on Friday, the U.S. "Drug Czar" acknowledged the de facto failure of the "war on drugs," a four-decade-long campaign to curb the trade and usage of illicit drugs in the country.     On May 13, Gil Kerlikowske, the current director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, or ONDCP, signaled that the new U.S. administration would no longer use the term "war on drugs."     He said the campaign is counter-productive, which leans heavily on force.     Rather, the new U.S. "Drug Czar" said the new administration favors treatment of illicit drug users over crackdowns and imprisonments.     TREATMENT IS NEW PRIORITY     In a statement issued on Wednesday to mark the release of the United Nations 2009 World Drug Report, Kerlikowske reaffirmed that treatment is the new priority in the nation's efforts to combat drug abuse.     "We are moving away from divisive 'drug war' rhetoric and focusing on employing all the tools at our disposal to get help to those who need it," Kerlikowske said.     "We recognize addiction is a disease and are seeking public health solutions. My top priority is to intensify efforts to reduce the demand for drugs which fuels crime and violence around the world," he added.     The "Drug Czar" said the new treatment-based approach will focus on three areas.     First, the new administration will expand existing efforts and work to ensure drug treatment services are incorporated into the ongoing national health care reform process.     Secondly, it will make sure those who are arrested due to drug offenses will get the help they need.     Third, the country will seek more international anti-drug cooperation.     The main rationale behind the reversal of the anti-drug policy is that the "war on drugs" has failed, which now is a consensus among Americans.     It is well-known that drug abuse first became an epidemic in the U.S. society in the 1960s, as a by-product of the anti-culture movement at that time.     The U.S. government responded with heavily-handed crackdown policies.     In 1969, the then Nixon administration created the term "war on drugs" to name a set of legal, economic and foreign policy initiatives intended to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of illicit drugs.     However, in the following four decades, the drug epidemic showed no signs of easing despite harsh law-enforcement measures under the "war on drugs."     According to statistics from the World Health Organization, the number of illicit drug users has grown to over 8 percent of the total U.S. population since 2002.     There are signs of growing drug abuse among teenagers, too.     The country is still the world's largest consumption market of illicit drugs and drug trade and usage are still plaguing communities across the country.     "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," columnist Nicholas D. Kristof lamented in a recent Op-ed on the New York Times.     A recent poll conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates found that 88 percent of Americans feel that drug abuse is either at serious or crisis levels in their country.     "NO LONGER AFFORDS IT"     In fact, for the Obama administration, abandoning the "war on drugs" is not only because it wants a new approach, but more importantly, because it has to do so.     As "Drug Czar" Kerlikowske said, the nation simply "can no longer afford to simply throw addicts who commit crimes in jail."     First, as a consequence of the "war on drugs," the country has vastly increased the proportion of its population in prisons.     The United States now incarcerates people at a rate nearly five times the world average, and that's partly because the number of people in prison for drug offenses rose roughly from 41,000 in 1980 to 500,000 today.     Second, the huge costs of the "war on drugs" are fiscally unsustainable.     According to Jeffrey Miron, a Harvard economist, federal, state and local governments now spend 44.1 billion U.S. dollars annually enforcing drug prohibitions.     The total cost of the "war on drugs" has probably already surpassed the threshold of one trillion dollars.     Under the current economic downturn, it is obvious that the new administration can no longer keep drug enforcement costs at such a rate.     RETHINKING THE SYSTEM     As the Obama administration apparently moves away from the "waron drugs" to a treatment-based approach, some law enforcement people have already raised their doubts about the new policy.     Rachel Hutzel, a prosecutor in Warren County, Ohio, argued in an Op-ed published on Tuesday that many drug offenders need punishment, not just treatment.     "Treatment without punishment is unfair to victims of drug-motivated crimes," he said, adding that many violent crimes are related to drug abuse.     Furthermore, treatment is ineffective to deal with dealers, Hutzel said.     "Many drug crimes should continue to be dealt with harshly. The people who are harmed by the selfish, destructive acts of drug users and drug dealers deserve nothing less," he argued.     As such doubts exist, some politicians say that now it is the time to rethink the overall anti-drug system before moving ahead.     Democratic Senator Jim Webb of Virginia has sponsored a legislation to create a presidential commission to examine various elements of the criminal justice system, including drug policy, with 28 other senators now co-sponsoring it.     Webb said that President Barack Obama is "supportive of the idea."     "Our nation's broken drug policies are just one reason why we must re-examine the entire criminal justice system," he said.