Drug War Bad for Kids

Substances need to be decriminalized, controlled, says Joy Strickland

As an advocate in the crusade to prevent teen violence, my starting point is that every child deserves a safe and supportive home, school and community. Prevention strategies such as mentoring and conflict resolution - not to mention personal responsibility - are key pieces of the strategies of Mothers Against Teen Violence and other groups committed to preventing violence in our communities.

But those pieces are only part of the solution and must be balanced and supported by a rational and effective national drug policy.

Enacted during the Nixon administration, the so-called war on drugs was designed to reduce supply and diminish demand for certain substances deemed harmful or undesirable. But the drug war has never met this objective, and unintended consequences have undermined the health and safety of our citizens, especially our children.

I will never forget 9-year-old Cory Weems, who was killed by a stray bullet in 1994 while having ice cream on his grandmother's front porch in Dallas. A drug dealer engaged in a car chase was convicted of this crime. Cory's picture hangs on my office wall, a reminder of one of the drug war's victims.

Or consider that despite billions spent annually toward arresting and prosecuting nearly 800,000 people for marijuana offenses, high school students continue to find marijuana easy to obtain.

By some estimates, as many as 250,000 people die every year from the proper use of prescription drugs. On the other hand, I am not aware of one single death directly caused by marijuana. Yet we pay $25,000 per year to send a drug user to prison, where he will likely have access to the same drugs for which he has been incarcerated.

If we can't keep drugs out of prisons, it is irrational to expect that we can keep them off our streets. It is equally irrational to lock up an individual because of what he chooses to put in his own body.

Drug addiction is not a moral issue. It is a medical problem requiring medical intervention. But if news reports are any indication, it is easy to believe that the rich and famous go to rehab while the poor go to jail. This disparity is the real moral issue.

The drug war keeps prices for the targeted substances artificially high, assuring that drug trafficking remains an incredibly profitable venture. The fantastic sums of money flowing from illegal drug sales have caused elected officials, police officers and prison guards - just to name a few - to fall prey to drug trafficking.

I have never used illegal drugs, nor do I advocate their use. But I believe the time has come for a change because our drug laws have failed us. The substances targeted by the drug war need to be decriminalized and controlled.

Those concerned about the message decriminalization would send to our children would do well to consider the message we are sending by continuing the status quo.

We don't want our children to face the same powerful temptations that many adults in authority have been powerless to resist. Instead, we want to remove the fantastic financial incentives to sell these substances to our children or recruit them into drug trafficking.

We don't want our children to die as innocent victims of turf wars and gang violence. We want all nonviolent drug abusers, regardless of class or race, to have access to rehabilitation.

And finally, we don't want our tax dollars spent enforcing ineffectual policies that undermine faith in our nation's laws.

Joy Strickland is CEO of the local chapter of Mothers Against Teen Violence and may be reached through www.matv inc.org.
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