ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040036
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
IN 1993, the United States spent $40 billion all told - counting federal, state and local expenditures - fighting illegal drugs. The nation had a record high addiction rate, and the highest imprisonment rate in the world.
Is this working?
No. Some people, all across the political spectrum, are saying it's time to capitulate in the war on drugs. Many more just want to get tougher - and spend more - to destroy foreign fields, seal the nation's borders, seize drug shipments, jail addicts. And, always, build more prisons.
To what result?
Both are losing strategies, Mathea Falco contends in her book "The Making of a Drug-Free America," which is filled with examples of successful anti-drug programs. What they share is an emphasis on cutting the demand for illicit drugs, rather than cutting off the supply.
Law enforcement is necessary to sweep drug dealers out of neighborhoods. But anti-drug efforts centered on police action ultimately are doomed. As residents of Roanoke's Wasena and Gilmer areas have learned, neighborhoods have to refuse to tolerate the drug trade if they are to keep it out. And everybody - neighborhoods, families, individuals, companies - has to fight drug abuse, or the business will simply move to a new location.
Falco believes the fight against drugs is winnable - not by interdiction and detention, but by education, prevention, treatment and followup. And the first, critical step is to break the silence of denial where drug abuse is a problem - whether that be in an inner-city housing project, an affluent suburban high school, or a corporate board room.
Scare tactics and slogans do not deter. Children need practical guidance. Effective youth programs teach even the poorest youngsters, first, that they have healthy choices. Then they teach life skills - what to say to refuse drugs, how to get help from responsible adults, how to interact with others in ways that won't sabotage their success in mainstream society.
And providing alternatives is critically important. Falco points out that in many neighborhoods and social sets, drinking and drug use are the major forms of recreation. Head-shaking and hand-wringing won't do anything to change this sad fact. Safe, supervised recreation can - as evidenced by sharp drops in cocaine and crack use, drug crime and vandalism in more than 100 housing projects with Boys and Girls Clubs.
Many kids want to say no to drugs but, faced with older, glibber, tougher dealers, they're not sure how. Organized efforts can help teach them how, while making them part of a safer community.
"Unselling" drugs in popular culture is necessary, too, Falco says. Social attitudes have an immense influence on individual behavior. Which is her point when she argues against legalization. Eliminating the crime would cut crime statistics, for sure - but could also increase drug abuse and its related problems of violence, lost productivity, poor health, child neglect and drug-affected newborns.
Some way would have to be figured out to avoid such collateral damage of a lost war.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB