cannabisnews.com: Boston Globe Series On War On Drugs Shows Futility





Boston Globe Series On War On Drugs Shows Futility
Posted by FoM on February 19, 2000 at 16:14:15 PT
Three-Part Series Starts Sunday, February 20th
Source: Business Wire
With the US Congress beginning an important debate on a Clinton administration plan to open a new front in the war on drugs, The Boston Globe on Sunday, February 20 begins publication of a three-part series that takes a critical look at the largely futile 30-year-old effort to shut down the flow of cocaine and heroin into the United States.
The series, entitled "The Endless War," is the product of three months of research by Globe staff reporters Richard Chacon and John Donnelly, who visited remote areas of Colombia that are being wracked by drug-related violence -- and which may become the scene of more intensive conflict as the US-backed drug war intensifies. Chacon and Donnelly also interviewed local addicts in Boston-area neighborhoods, where cocaine and heroin addiction is being fought on a case-by-case basis by dedicated social workers.Among the Globe's key findings presented in the series:The belief of many Americans that the drug problem has been receding along with the general drop in the crime rate is erroneous. Addiction has simply shifted from the white-collar world of cocaine users in the 1980s to the underclass today. The United States now has the highest number of addicts ever recorded - 5.7 million. Less than 20 percent of federal anti-drug funds is directed toward the treatment of addicts, one of the most effective policies in the long-term war. Most federal money goes to law enforcement and attempts to wipe out drugs at their source. The new Clinton administration plan continues that trend. Cocaine and heroin are actually more plentiful and half as expensive on the streets of Boston as they were a decade ago, despite two decades of US-Colombian efforts to combate drug production. The White House-proposed new push into Colombian cocaine and heroin regions foresees displacing at least 10,000 Colombians in a campaign of fumigation and defoliation in areas of Colombia largely controlled by leftist guerrillas. With the drug war on the verge of an escalation in the jungle hills of Colombia that some critics equate with Vietnam, the Clinton administration insists that American soldiers and advisers will not be imperiled in the Colombian push. Says one official: "The blood shed will be the Colombians'." The Endless War begins Sunday, February 20 and continues through Tuesday, February 22 in the Globe.The Boston Globe, one of the nation's largest 15 daily and largest10 Sunday newspapers in circulation, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT), a diversified media company including newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations, and electronic information and publishing. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment. EDITOR'S NOTE: Boston Globe Special Projects Editor John Yemma, who oversaw the series, is available throughout the weekend and on Monday for interviews about this report. Please call pager number 617-339-3559 to get in touch with Mr. Yemma. Contact: The Boston Globe: Richard P. Gulla, 617/929-3288 gulla globe.com  Boston (BUSINESS WIRE) Published: February 18, 2000Copyright © 1995-2000 Excite Inc. Related Articles:To Some, Aid To Columbia A Risky Maneuver for U.S.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4765.shtmlU.S. Aid to Colombia http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4739.shtmlFighting the New Drug Lords - Newsweek Internationalhttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4738.shtmlColombia Anti-Drug Plan Draws Hill Firehttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4733.shtml 
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