Drug Treatment Works so why not increase government funding for drug treatment ? We in the USA must place a strong emphasis on the value of treatment instead of incarceration. Getting drug users into treatment is the best way of improving their health & increasing their ability to lead fulfilling lives.
The 1994 RAND study shows that drug treatment is 7 times more cost effective than domestic law enforcement , 10 times more effective than interdiction, and 23 times more effective than the "source control" method.
"Stop wasting jail space on prostitutes, drug users and other victimless criminals. Even if we find it morally acceptable to imprison these people for choices they make regarding their bodies, we must realize that we simply cannot afford to continue clogging the court system and the prison system with the harmless 'criminals.' "
- Edward B. Wagner
Treatment also breaks the cycle of drug misuse and crime, and investing in treatment reduces the overall cost of drug abuse to society. There is a huge gap between the number of people requiring treatment and the number of places available, so many areas of the country have had lengthy waiting lists. Sadly our jails have no such waiting list.
I never thought I would be complimenting Richard Nixon on anything but at least he had enough sense to see that treatment for drug addicts was more cost effective and more importantly it's far more humane although Nixon most likely only cared about the cost effectiveness of drug treatment. President's Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter continued Nixon's program but the just say no Reagan's replaced it with prison time.
Richard Nixon--the first U.S. President to declare an "all-out war on drugs"-- was also the first, and only, president to recognize the value of treatment as a sound investment of public funds. In June 1971, Nixon requested an extra $155 million to fight the drug war--$105 million of that amount was targeted for the treatment and rehabilitation of addicts.
But Nixon's program for treating heroin addicts was dismantled by Ronald Reagan. Nancy Reagan preached the message of "Just Say No" as her husband cut into the federal budget for drug treatment. Law enforcement became the priority, and the few treatment centers that did survive fiscal cuts were overwhelmed by the onset of the crack epidemic.
The United States Government currently under the worthless leadership of brainless NEO-CON stooges continue to flush 41 Billion dollars a year down the toilet fighting just Marijuana alone yet there is not a single documented case of death due to the use of Cannabis. Marijuana is a harmless weed especially in comparison to Tobacco as well as Alcohol. In fact Scientific evidence has now proven that one of our so called hard drugs which is also very illegal Ecstasy is less harmful than our legal as well as lethal drugs Tobacco and Alcohol.
A DRCNet member who blogs at the Daily Kos, among other places, sent me a fascinating article he found recently in the New York Times web archive about the US-Mexico drug war. According to the article, titled "US to Join Mexico in Fight on Drugs" and published in May 1925:
Now instead of providing treatment our imbecile for a President George W. Bush has pledged $1.4 Billion of our hard earned tax dollars towards the failed Mexican Drug War. I guess we might as well finance two nations failed drug wars instead of just our own disaster that way we get double the corruption on both sides of the border.These Neo-Con idiots are driving us into a fucking economic depression the bastards should have been impeached long ago.