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| Lawyer Says Drug War Needs Major Changes |
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Posted by CN Staff on September 17, 2005 at 06:50:15 PT By Brian Kelly Source: South Whidbey Record 
Washington -- America’s war on drugs has failed, and the United States should take a new approach to illegal drugs other than throwing drug users in jail, said Roger Goodman, director of the King County Bar Association’s Drug Policy Project.In a speech Thursday to the League of Women Voters of South Whidbey Island, Goodman presented the outline for a new legal framework to handle drugs. The plan focuses on getting treatment for drug users, and includes suggestions such as retail sales of marijuana at state shops and dispensaries for addicts of drugs like heroin. “The war on drugs is a failure. It’s actually fundamentally flawed,” Goodman said. Punishment has not decreased the use of drugs. “And if you try to clamp down at the source, it just pops up everywhere else. There’s an unrelenting demand for the substances,” he said. Much work has been, and should be, focused on prevention. But Goodman said the just-say-no approach doesn’t work. “Our kids see through that,” he said. “They see drug use at home and on TV. We’re not in a drug-free society and kids know this.” Talking about a new approach to America’s drug problem is controversial, Goodman admitted. “In the drug area, we kind of keep running into a moralistic, ideological barrier. And so we continue to punish those who take drugs and lock them up.” Goodman has worked full-time studying drug issues in recent years as leader of the King County Bar Association’s Drug Policy Project. He recalled how a task force of professionals in law, from judges to attorneys, gathered to review America’s drug laws and policies. The coalition has since grown to include numerous other professionals from the law, medical and social services fields. “There’s no hidden agenda. We’re not a front for fringy, pony-tailed pot smokers,” Goodman said. “We have legitimate objectives to reduce crime, to improve health, to protect children and to save money.” Goodman touched on the reasons why some drugs today are illegal, and others aren’t. Often, drugs were made illegal because of the people who were using them, he said. Coffee use was punishable by death in some cultures in the 1500s. Coffee made people more talkative, and the ruling class got worried when people started talking about the government. “This is the history of prohibition, as we have taken substances to alter our state of mind, we become dangerous to the powers that be,” he said. His group’s study on the issue, Goodman said, led to the conclusion that a prohibition against drugs just doesn’t work. But that doesn’t mean a blind eye should be turned to drug addiction, he added. Instead, the degree of state control over a psychoactive substance should reflect the degree of risk of problematic use and harm on society from each drug. A state commission should be convened to review how drugs can be regulated. Laws already exist to hold people accountable for their behavior, he said, like laws against impaired driving. Still, the bar association’s drug project has set limits on how drugs should be supplied to users. “We’re not talking about going to Bartell’s and picking up your heroin,” he added. As it currently exists, the war on drugs can’t be won. “We’ve already surrendered. We’ve surrendered control of these dangerous substances to violent criminal enterprises,” Goodman said. As soon as one is stopped, another sprouts up to take its place. What’s needed, he said, is a new legal framework. “Marijuana needs to be regulated. It’s crying out for regulation,” Goodman said. He said marijuana could be suppled to users through private producers or medical co-ops, at a minimum, and perhaps through retail sales at state stores. “That gets me scared,” Goodman said. “Because then there’s too much availability.” Even so, marijuana is already too easy for children to get. More discussion needs to take place before a regulatory scheme can be created. “We’re just string to talk about this. We don’t have the flesh on the bones yet,” he said. Meanwhile, Goodman said, work continues to find ways where law enforcement can work with drug users to intervene before arrests so addicts can get treatment. The opportunities for drug users to get help fall away after they are brought into the criminal justice system. For example, just offering drug treatment referral information during drug arrests in Great Britain has show to be successful in getting addicts to seek help. Changing the approach to illegal drugs is highly controversial. “However, the political culture changes,” Goodman said, adding that five years ago, treatment rather than jail was a radical idea. “Somebody needs to lead. Somebody needs to keep pushing the envelope,” Goodman said. Island County Sheriff Mike Hawley said he was encouraged by talk about increased prevention efforts and treatment options, but said he has to enforce drug laws that are already on the books. The number-one drug problem in Island County is alcohol use, Hawley said. He added that he had only been to one domestic violence case in his entire law enforcement career where both people were sober. “Alcohol is huge,” Hawley said. Complete Title: Lawyer Says Drug War Needs Major Changes Attorney Says Source: South Whidbey Record (WA) CannabisNews Justice Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #9 posted by FoM on September 17, 2005 at 08:19:00 PT |
| Last night we listened to the NPR interview with Neil Young and it was excellent. It's worth a listen if you have a chance. I love Neil Young's values. When they asked him about WGMM he said he had no idea where it came from. It called it a hymnal. Check out the interview if you are interested. WGMM is inspired and I believe it comes from some other place then earth. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by FoM on September 17, 2005 at 08:14:37 PT |
| I hope your sister makes it. Oh demon alcohol. Now they advertise hard liquor on tv and make it look so sexy. Maybe we should see a commercial after the night is over for the people drinking too. Heads in toilets. Waking up in a strange place and not remembering what went on. Cannabis doesn't do that to anyone ever. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by E_Johnson on September 17, 2005 at 08:11:45 PT |
| Roger Hilburn gave it four stars. Here's an excerpt from his review: ******************************** The highlight is the spiritually minded "When God Made Me," a song about higher ideals and brotherhood that may be his "Imagine." Joined by the Fisk University Jubilee Choir, Young sings: Was he thinkin' about my country Or the color of my skin? Was he thinkin' about my religion And the way I worshipped him? Did he create just me in his image Or every living thing? When God made me. If Bob Dylan has been for years our best guide to exploring the complexities of human experience, Young may be the songwriter who expresses most eloquently the simple ties that bind us all. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by E_Johnson on September 17, 2005 at 08:09:06 PT |
| She just got out of detox for alcohol again. Thank God. She latched onto vodka when she was a teenager, like it was mother's milk. I wasn't sure she'd have the strength to try to quit again, but she found it. She disappeared last week and I was praying that it because she checked herself into detox. And my prayers were answered. The TV show The O.C. is doing an alcohol story. The family's perky blonde mom always had a wine glass in her hand. Last season they had her switch that for a vodka bottle. Now she's a hard core alkie, and they're trying to deal with that. They got her into rehab at the end of last season. But now, as often happens, the mom made a friend in rehab who is even more messed up than she is, and next week I think the two of them are going to end up on a major drinking binge together. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by FoM on September 17, 2005 at 07:58:02 PT |
| I also have a really hard time with alcohol. I have seen it really mess people up and some die. Why don't they talk about alcohol as a drug issue. I don't mean make it illegal but at least put an emphasis of the long term effects of heavy alcohol use? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on September 17, 2005 at 07:54:16 PT |
| It's long been called "a drinking profession". An LA Times columnist dd a column on the poor homeless people on Skid Row. He used the words "drugs" about ten times in the story. He didn't use the word "alcohol" even once. Even though Skid Row is famous for alcoholism, and the people who live there can afford vodka better than they can afford crack. I wrote the guy a letter asking whether he avoided mentioning alcohol because he was an alcohol user himself. I told him I had a family member who landed on Skid Row and it was all about vodka, the cheap kind, not the expensive designer vodka they advertise in 50 foot high billboards on Sunset Blvd. No reply. Alcohol users are in charge of drug prohibition. Think about it. All of their shame and guilt is being taken out on drug users, that's the score as I read it. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on September 17, 2005 at 07:46:25 PT |
| The alcohol users are a determined bunch. It's harder than you think to get an alcohol user to stop using alcohol. Just giving them pot won't do it. After all, alcohol legal, despite how much damage it causes. That is a sign of just how addictive it is. The alcoholics caused so much trouble when it was banned, they had no choice but to make it legal again. But slcohol users carry a lot of shame inside, typically. And that sense of shame over their own drug is what they PROJECT onto marijuana users. WE have to be punished for THEIR sense of shame and guilt over alcohol. Alcohol has a grip over this society that is so powerful, I don't know what could possibly interrupt it. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by FoM on September 17, 2005 at 07:38:15 PT |
| I watched a documentary on Meth the other evening. I really have a problem with Meth. To me it is dangerous and when I saw children being taken out of homes during raids it upset me. Why do people think it is ok to have those dangerous chemicals in their home around children? Why aren't there commercials about the dangers of Meth on TV? I have only seen commercials about Cannabis. The people looked totally burnt out. I know if I was a child I would be so upset if my parents did Meth because how erratic they get. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by potpal on September 17, 2005 at 07:27:37 PT |
| ...would be HUGE also. Imagine the working man pausing for a puff prior to coming home on a tuesday rather than stopping at the local watering hole. He might then stop at a Happy Harry's and spring for a bag of Snickers to share with his better half and kids...Imagine. [ Post Comment ] |
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