|
|
The failed war on drugsTuesday, October 13, 2009Posted by Dan Morhaim, M.D., House of Delegates, Maryland General Assembly, under Drug Addiction Treatment Post the next comment (14 so far) |
Editor’s note: Following National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, we’ve asked several individuals to share their ideas about addiction issues and the war on drugs.
***
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — Albert Einstein
I have worked for over 30 years in emergency medicine. We have measured that between 60%-80% of our patients who lack insurance are there due to addiction. Coding systems categorize by final diagnosis, e.g. “forearm laceration,” but when the record is closely examined, it turns out that the laceration occurred because the patient broke a window during a burglary to get money for drugs.
I ask addicts three questions. What is the daily price tag of your addiction? Answer: $20-$100/day. What do you do to get the money? Answer: sell drugs, steal, prostitution, work if available. Would you go into a drug treatment program now? Answer: Yes, but none is immediately available.
Quick and conservative estimate: $50/day x 60,000 addicts in Baltimore metro area x 365 days/year = $1.1 billion.
Analyzed from an economic view, the drug business is amazing. Product (poppy, coca) is grown, refined, and shipped into every city in the U.S. A vast distribution network ensures that product is readily available down to the street corner level. Financial systems turn the cash of the “dime bag” into multi-billion dollar operations, complete with money laundering, banking, and investment, not to mention the expensive security enforcement required by an illegal industry.
When constituents ask me about their rising health insurance premiums or fear of crime, I respond that addiction is at the source. But after 40+ years of the “War on Drugs,” our society is no better off and probably worse. Jammed prisons, AIDS, destroyed families, crime victims, terrorist funding: the toll is immense. Addiction treatment is a critical step but just a beginning. Isn’t it time our society had a full, open, honest, and intense discussion about drugs? Shouldn’t we admit that the War on Drugs has failed and that other policies deserve exploration? Prohibition didn’t cure alcoholism in the 1920s; it only fueled organized crime. Like that well-intentioned but failed experiment, is it now time to end drug prohibition? Is it time to consider a system of regulation, taxation, treatment, and real control?
posts
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Thank you Dan for posting this. Each time I listen to talented people present creative programs for city children, this is ALL I can think of.
Why is the government continuing to entice some of their parents into a high profit business such as the drug business?
This business and it’s profits can only be controlled by legalizing it…the borders can’t be controlled either.
All the money going to criminalizing drugs could be spent on worthwhile endeavors..
Drug addiction should be treated as a disease, like alcoholism…
I agree—Prohibition should have taught the lesson, as should supply and demand from a business perspective.
Who is winning here? We know who is suffering.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 12:43 pm
But Dan ,if we legalized drugs that would take the profit motive out of illegal pushers and then they would have no incentive to hook youth on drugs!!!!
Another consequence is that gangs would not longer be shooting each other over controlling territory. When was the last time we had a good old fashioned shoot out over beer territory? OH right, that was during prohibition.
Courageous for any elected official to go out on limb here. In fact, your solid questions are the ones we need to answer deeply while throwing away our old preconceptions. Time to treat this as health problem and end the failed war on drugs which has only led to more violence in our urban areas. Thank you. Jan Houbolt
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Of course Dan is right. As a trustee of the Hazelden Foundation and parent of an addict I know the havoc addiction causes. Addicts have a disease and they need treatment. Treatment works. What we need is a community that embraces and provides treatment including long term housing and recovery options. Anyone can get sober, staying sober is the challenge and requires education, support and in some cases, anti craving meds. Once folks understand that addicts don’t do this stuff on purpose, anymore than they get cancer or diabetes on purpose, we can move away from blame and finger pointing. Addiction and drug trafficking are destroying our city.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Here is an very interesting website by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition:
http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php
It certainly reinforces Dan’s position and take it further. This is a group of police officer, prosecuting attorney’s and such who have concluded it is time to legalize drugs.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Thank you Dan for keeping this issue alive. I just wanted to point out that to the extent that addicts steal to feed their habits, they have to steal $10 for every dollar they spend. Thus, if stealing is 10% of the income stream, the cost to the community is doubled to approximately $2 billion.
Also, the costs like incarceration and foster care are extremely expensive.
End the “War on Drugs.” It’s really a war on families and communities.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Isn’t it time our society had a full, open, honest, and intense discussion about drugs?
ABSOLUTELY.
Shouldn’t we admit that the War on Drugs has failed and that other policies deserve exploration?
OF COURSE.
It is so obvious that our handling of these issues as a region and a society are so badly in need of re-examination, I find it shocking that the discussion is not underway in earnest. We need more public officials to back what Del. Morhaim is proposing here. The budget crisis presents an opportunity to overhaul our mental health, addiction recovery and criminal justice systems. If we work smarter, we can do more with less.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Dan, Keep saying it. The costs are staggering, especially to those who live close to the street action and have little clout, politically to steer their frustration to any action, but to attempt to raise healthy children and care for the elderly with some dignity.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Wow, finally a politician who makes sense….Thanks to Dan for being open to discuss this issue. I’m not sure if legalizing drugs is the answer, but I am sure that the war on drugs has failed, and a healthy, open discussion must occur asap. I think the actual cost of addiction is triple when you consider the ripple effects…. Because addiction is incurable at this point in time, we do need a continum of care until we can find a cure (assuming that is possible). I hesitate to use the word “Treatment Centers” because I think there is a conotation that we really can “Treat” (aka cure) this disease…I think addiction and the people and systems it affects (ie: health, criminal, family, etc, etc…) has a far greater negative impact on our society that Cancer or any other of the diseases we spend millions and millions on each year…Dan – how about setting up a task force to begin the discussion????
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I agree 100% with the views expressed by Dr. Dan Morhaim. I became aware of the issue when I realized that many of the vets returning from Viet Nam had become addicted to drugs while there. I also have seen tremendous changes in personal safety concerns of those of us who are private citizens trying not to become victims of the increasing number of addicts in our communities. I do not believe that we can ever win a so called “war on drugs.” Drug addiction is a health problem and we have let it become a health crisis. Let’s work together to address this issue. Everyday of delay results in more lives lost and dollars wasted when we cannot afford to throw money away. I applauded Mayor Kurt Schmoke for bringing this position of a failed war on drugs to the public’s attention years ago.
Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Dan, great questions and ones that seem to have fairly obvious answers. I have been an advocate of treatment over incarceration for many years and also for legalization of drugs. Make it legal, tax it heavily and use the money for treatment programs. This might decrease some of the crime and violence associated with drug dealing and make our cities and towns safer. At the same time, treatment is much less costly than imprisonment, while also helping people to straighten out their lives and become positive participating members of our communities. I hope as a state legislator, you will pursue this in Annapolis. Thanks for your courage to speak up on this subject.
Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 8:31 am
Well said, Dan! Wrap-around services work and can save enough to provide sufficient slots for those who want treatment to have immediate access. Peace, Jen
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 9:31 am
One need not travel to China to find indigenous cultures lacking human rights or to Cuba for political prisoners. America leads the world in percentile behind bars, thanks to ongoing persecution of hippies, radicals, and non-whites under prosecution of the war on drugs. If we’re all about spreading liberty abroad, then why mix the message at home? Peace on the home front would enhance global credibility.
The drug czar’s Rx for prison fodder costs dearly, as life is flushed down expensive tubes. My shaman’s second opinion is that psychoactive plants are God’s gift. Behold, it’s all good. When Eve ate the apple, she knew a good apple, and an evil prohibition. Canadian Marc Emery is being extradited to prison for selling seeds that American farmers use to reduce U. S. demand for Mexican pot.
Only on the authority of a clause about interstate commerce does the CSA (Controlled Substances Act of 1970) reincarnate Al Capone, endanger homeland security, and throw good money after bad. Administration fiscal policy burns tax dollars to root out the number-one cash crop in the land, instead of taxing sales. Society rejected the plague of prohibition, but it mutated. Apparently, SWAT teams don’t need no stinking amendment.
Nixon passed the CSA on the false assurance that the Schafer Commission would later justify criminalizing his enemies. No amendments can assure due process under an anti-science law without due process itself. Psychology hailed the breakthrough potential of LSD, until the CSA shut down research, and pronounced that marijuana has no medical use, period. Drug juries exclude bleeding hearts.
The RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993) allows Native American Church members to eat peyote, which functions like LSD. Americans shouldn’t need a specific church membership or an act of Congress to obtain their birthright freedom of religion. John Doe’s free exercise of religious liberty may include entheogen sacraments to mediate communion with his maker.
Freedom of speech presupposes freedom of thought. The Constitution doesn’t enumerate any governmental power to embargo diverse states of mind. How and when did government usurp this power to coerce conformity? The Mayflower sailed to escape coerced conformity. Legislators who would limit cognitive liberty lack jurisdiction.
Common-law must hold that adults are the legal owners of their own bodies. The Founding Fathers undersigned that the right to the pursuit of happiness is inalienable. Socrates said to know your self. Mortal lawmakers should not presume to thwart the intelligent design that molecular keys unlock spiritual doors. Persons who appreciate their own free choice of path in life should tolerate seekers’ self-exploration.
Monday, November 30, 2009 at 3:34 pm
It seems like business is still getting hit hard. Is anybody seeing an upswing in their respective niches? Health reform seems like a mess. I generate long term care insurance leads and annuity leads for the insurance industry, but volume has been terrible in the last two months. I am afraid the worst is yet to come, but maybe it is just my attitude.
Friday, January 15, 2010 at 1:07 pm
A pregnant woman from outside the U.S. can walk into almost any emergency room in the country and in a safe and clean environment give birth to her baby.
An American citizen who suffered a back injury a work, and wound up becoming dependent on extremely strong pain medication, may get a couple of days in detox with great insurance. If he has none, the odds are he will continue farther into his addiction, as the pain of detox is simply too much to bear.
What is wrong with us when we can’t or won’t help our own neighbors get OFF of drugs they never meant to get hooked on in the first place.