cannabisnews.com: Fixin' Under Nixon!





Fixin' Under Nixon!
Posted by FoM on May 12, 1999 at 09:29:08 PT
A New Book Examines Richard Nixon's Drug Policies!
Source: Salon Magazine
Progressive drug policies are not typically associated with Richard Nixon. But as an examination of America's war on drugs shows, since Tricky Dick left office, the nation's drug policies have grown increasingly Draconian, and increasingly ineffective.In his new book, "The Fix," journalist Michael Massing argues that Nixon, more than any other recent president, accepted that treatment for hard-core drug users was far more effective -- and practical -- than incarceration.
Salon News spoke to Massing about the poor public image of methadone, the limitations of "Just Say No" and why only a Republican can usher in a new age of drug policy.Were Nixon's drug policies notably different from those of his successors?When I began to look into the history of the war on drugs, I really did not expect to find anything of great interest, anything different from the standard policy of using law enforcement to fight drugs. But as I began doing the research, several people in the field, whom I interviewed, said, "Well, if you're looking at this history, you have to look at the Nixon era because he really had the most innovative program of any president and it stressed treatment." I was somewhat disbelieving at first, but the more I began to research it, and when I found Nixon's first drug czar, Dr. Jerome Jaffe, and began to talk to him about his experience, I just became completely fascinated by the Nixon experience. While Nixon did launch the war on drugs, he also made treatment its major weapon.Click the above link to read the whole article!
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