September 17, 2005
- South Whidbey Record (WA)
Lawyer Says Drug War Needs Major Changes
By Brian Kelly
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.
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