cannabisnews.com: The Drug War: No More Lies





The Drug War: No More Lies
Posted by FoM on August 19, 2000 at 15:58:59 PT
Letters To The Editor
Source: Salon Magazine
I must disagree with Arianna Huffington that incarceration for "non-violent" drug offenders is wrong, and drug "treatment" is the best way to handle the problem. I am a police officer fighting the "ground war" on the war on drugs. I arrest dozens of people for "non-violent" drug charges often linked with serious violent felonies and very many of them have been through "treatment." 
It does not work. Like "anger management" classes for domestic abusers, they are an ineffective "feel-good" way to approach a problem. Finally, something we should not forget is that drug use IS ILLEGAL! Breaking the law should get people sent to jail, not to some cushy "treatment center" when they have no real intentions of stopping their drug use anyway. -- Robert Matson Alas, Huffington misses the real reason the war on drugs continues year after year: Our government employees profit immensely from it. Whether it is the local and state police forces that confiscate property and then sell it for a profit or federal agents doing the same while also cushioned by record budgets that have dramatically expanded our president's private army and conveniently armed them with machine guns, no law enforcement official is likely to raise their voice against the abuses or failures. Every civil servant or private contractor that profits from the asset seizures will cheer on the "war" despite its legendary lack of success because they can live like royalty from this hidden tax on American society. A shift to treatment over criminalization and asset seizures will cripple the little kingdoms Congress and the president have so carefully created. For that reason I very much doubt that the "war" on the American people will end very soon. After all, it is ultimately greed that drives all wars! -- Randy Hofland I don't understand why more conservatives haven't turned on the drug war already. As a libertarian, I see the drug war for what it is: the ultimate liberal government program to protect people from themselves. Like most government programs, its real purpose is to increase the power of the federal government over more aspects of our lives. -- Richard Carpenter Arianna Huffington is quite correct in stating that America's so-called war on drugs is a dismal failure. I am a clinical psychologist, active in forensic psychology, who evaluates inmates in the jails on a daily basis. The vast majority of individuals that I see have a substance abuse problem, most frequently crack cocaine. Many have 20, 30, 40 arrests, only to be released and start the cycle all over again. So many have told me that they consume as many drugs in prison as on the streets. The substance abuse "treatment" they receive in prison is phony, with many inmates going to 12-step meetings to reduce their sentences. Violations of confidentiality, a cornerstone of treatment, are commonplace. Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders also produces jobs and incomes for mental health professionals, attorneys, criminal justice employees and companies that service incarcerated inmates. It is time for our political leaders to step up and face the obvious. We must have bold new approaches, and be willing to consider solutions that heretofore were taboo. These include, but are not limited to, selective legalization, decriminalization, extraordinary efforts at primary prevention, funding for drug therapies, vaccinations, and funds for new approaches for treatment and research. If they do not work after a trial basis then throw them out without recriminations and start something else. In order for progress to be made, these efforts should be undertaken in a bipartisan effort, with the endorsement of law enforcement officials. Demagogues need not apply. Are our political leaders up to the task? Let's hope so or we will continue to fight a lost war. -- Michael S. Greenberg, Ph.D. Direct Link To Above Article:http://salon.com/letters/daily/2000/08/14/drug_war/index.htmlWeb Posted: Aug. 14, 2000Copyright: 2000 Salon.comContact: salon salonmagazine.comAddress: 22 4th Street, 16th Floor San Francisco, CA 94103Fax: (415) 645-9204Feedback: http://www.salon.com/contact/letters/Forum: http://tabletalk.salon.com/Related Article:The Drug War: No More Lieshttp://www.salon.com/news/feature/2000/08/10/drug_war/index.htmlCannabisNews Articles On Arianna Huffington:http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=Arianna
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Comment #3 posted by Hempman on August 19, 2000 at 16:53:13 PT:
Cops with poor thinking skills
I am a police officer fighting the "ground war"I arrest dozens of people for "non-violent" drug charges often linked with serious violent felonies -- Robert MatsonI don't think that you'd find one person here that would disagree with arresting people for robbery, or the many larcenous "white collar", non-violent crimes that people commit. We also agree that frequently these people are commiting these crimes related to thier drug use.Where we disagree is that there is more than sufficient evidence that many of these crimes are committed because drugs are illegal. The drugs themselves are not forcing people to commit crimes, as the Institute of Medicine Report showed for cannabis users.We would also agree that there are far too numerous "feel good" programs. Every one of them is a result of the courts getting involved in medical care. For every court ordered "feel good" program, there are handsful of legitimate treatment programs that DO work. But because the courts are involved, they prefer the quick fix, cheapness methods of the new generation of "substance abuse" programs that are more frequently run by people with less knowlege of psychology and psychotherapy than they should, and more of a dedication to failed 12 step ideologies.The other problem is that, as any good therapist could tell you, forced therapy simply does not work.The core disagreement, however, is this. Arrest people who commit actual crimes (not the moralistic "drug crime" but something that affects others). Put them in jail. But adding charges of "drug crimes" does nothing. In fact, most people in jail are there only for "drug crime". That is, they committed no other crime, they just had drugs. With draconian mandatory minimum sentences, the prisons are so filled with these sorts of prisoners that there is no room for the robbers or even the murderers and rapists. Lock up actual criminals (Some experts question whether this is any way to stop crime. The only function of incarceration is punishment.).If there were no drug laws, there would be no need for the cop mentality that they have to be arrested. Drug laws serve no other purpose. They do not stop crime, but in fact creates a whole new class of crime. Not only that, but they interfere with the legitimate enforcement of actual criminal law.What we mean by that is, actual crime is where someone else is harmed. No one is harmed when I smoke a joint. Other than the whinney "..because its illegal" crap, exactly who is harmed and how? If no one is being harmed (none of this assinine "saving me from myself garbage, either) then what is the purpose of the law?As the last letter writer points out, it is to make demagogues from cops, prison officials and politicians as well as therapists without enough skills to make it in the job marketplace without forced therapy. 
Delaware Cannabis Society
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Comment #2 posted by freedom fighter on August 19, 2000 at 16:42:54 PT
Oh Arianna
Look what you just did.All the poor are smiling.Robert Matson got so mad and said," Drugs are so illegal."Oh Arianna, did you not know that Martin Sheen just got an award for being a leader? He says gotta go to a cell to get well.Oh Arianna, the poor and meek will not forget you. For we cannot speak out and you had the balls to step up for us.We will not forget you Arianna.Oh sweet Arianna.
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Comment #1 posted by Hempman on August 19, 2000 at 16:29:16 PT:
Cops with poor thinking skills
I am a police officer fighting the "ground war"I arrest dozens of people for "non-violent" drug charges often linked with serious violent felonies -- Robert MatsonI don't think that you'd find one person here that would disagree with arresting people for robbery, or the many larcenous "white collar", non-violent crimes that people commit. We also agree that frequently these people are commiting these crimes related to thier drug use.Where we disagree is that there is more than sufficient evidence that many of these crimes are committed because drugs are illegal. The drugs themselves are not forcing people to commit crimes, as the Institute of Medicine Report showed for cannabis users.We would also agree that there are far too numerous "feel good" programs. Every one of them is a result of the courts getting involved in medical care. For every court ordered "feel good" program, there are handsful of legitimate treatment programs that DO work. But because the courts are involved, they prefer the quick fix, cheapness methods of the new generation of "substance abuse" programs that are more frequently run by people with less knowlege of psychology and psychotherapy than they should, and more of a dedication to failed 12 step ideologies.The other problem is that, as any good therapist could tell you, forced therapy simply does not work.The core disagreement, however, is this. Arrest people who commit actual crimes (not the moralistic "drug crime" but something that affects others). Put them in jail. But adding charges of "drug crimes" does nothing. In fact, most people in jail are there only for "drug crime". That is, they committed no other crime, they just had drugs. With draconian mandatory minimum sentences, the prisons are so filled with these sorts of prisoners that there is no room for the robbers or even the murderers and rapists. Lock up actual criminals (Some experts question whether this is any way to stop crime. The only function of incarceration is punishment.).If there were no drug laws, there would be no need for the cop mentality that they have to be arrested. Drug laws serve no other purpose. They do not stop crime, but in fact creates a whole new class of crime. Not only that, but they interfere with the legitimate enforcement of actual criminal law.What we mean by that is, actual crime is where someone else is harmed. No one is harmed when I smoke a joint. Other than the whinney "..because its illegal" crap, exactly who is harmed and how?
Delaware Cannabis Society
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