Byliner: ONDCP Director Barry McCaffrey on Beating Illegal Drugs

(Op-ed from The Washington Post 04/17/00) (840)

(This column by Director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control
Policy Barry R. McCaffrey first appeared in The Washington Post April
17 and is in the public domain. No republication restrictions.)

A Way to Beat Illegal Drugs
Barry R. McCaffrey

(The writer is Director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control
Policy)

The danger of illegal drugs was first brought home to me during the
Vietnam War. It was a time when drug use among American troops rose
alarmingly. Marijuana and heroin were widely available in Southeast
Asia, and use of such drugs under combat conditions proved lethal or
disabling for many soldiers. Back in the United States, illegal drugs
and alcohol abuse increasingly plagued the military and the rest of
society. In the 1970s, drug use in the service was estimated to be
between 30 and 50 percent.

Yet, by the time our armed forces were victorious in the Persian Gulf
War, less than one percent of military personnel tested positive for
drugs. We had all but eliminated the problem. We did it through
education, drug testing, treatment, leadership and sensible law
enforcement.

That's why I am optimistic about the chances of cutting illegal drug
use in the greater society. Unlike world hunger, racism and other
intractable social crises, drug abuse can be turned around in a
relatively short time through collective efforts and determination. In
fact, it has decreased in the United States by more than half since
hitting a peak in 1979.

Left unchecked, illegal drugs could cost this country a half-million
deaths and a trillion dollars over the next decade. Criminal
organizations that traffic in drugs threaten democratic governance,
the rule of law, economic stability and human rights in many nations.

The international community's growing maturity in understanding the
scope of this problem is helping dissolve the myth that the U.S.
market is the sole engine driving global drug trade. In fact, the
United States makes up just a small fraction of the world's consumers.
Even with the relatively high price Americans are willing to pay for
illegal drugs, our citizens account for only 10 to 15 percent of the
more than $400 billion spent on drugs around the world every year.

From my perspective, the struggle against illegal drugs is not a
"war." Misplaced battle imagery leads people to expect a conclusive
victory. Wars have an end, but drug education--like all schooling--is
a continuous process. To reduce the demand for drugs, prevention must
be ongoing. Addicted individuals are to be helped, not defeated. They
must be held accountable for their actions and offered drug treatment
to help change destructive behavior.

Cancer, rather than war, is the more appropriate metaphor for the
nation's drug problem. The key to reducing both is prevention coupled
with treatment and research. Slashing drug-use rates will require a
sustained effort to change individual and social attitudes. It also
will demand fundamental shifts in the way our public health and
criminal justice systems deal with chronic addicts. We cannot arrest
our way out of the problem. Neither can we make unrealistic promises
to solve the drug problem in just a few years or rid the world of
drugs entirely. We must be serious and get organized with long-term
prevention and treatment programs that work.

The government's response is only a small part of the national effort
to counter illegal drugs. The drug problem is in essence a collection
of local epidemics that can best be addressed at the community level
by coalitions of parents, coaches, health professionals and teachers.
Our children are most influenced by people they love and admire,
rather than by rock stars, celebrities and other remote figures. An
adult involved with mentoring can change a child's life.

Much of the work that needs to be done against drug dependence will
take place within the criminal justice system. Drug courts are able to
offer treatment in lieu of prison for nonviolent offenders. Drug
treatment must be married to legal coercion if America's 5 million
hard-core users are to be stopped from ruining their lives at great
cost to our country in terms of overcrowded courts and prisons,
spiraling health-care costs and violent criminal behavior. Strict law
enforcement, combined with humane and intelligent policy, is the
answer to the enormous public safety problem posed by drug dependence.

The indirect campaign to legalize drugs has tried to manipulate the
issues of "medical marijuana" and "harm reduction." This approach
should offend America's sense of integrity. The welfare of children
must come first. Reducing drug abuse is in our country's most
fundamental interest.

I have seen a lot of destruction and suffering in U.S. combat
operations. Nothing, however, exceeds the chaos caused by young
Americans who drift into the spiral of chronic addiction.

(The writer is Director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control
Policy)

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Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)