Drug Policy Forum of Oklahoma

The Stillwater based, DPFOK works for Drug War Peace. It serves the public by providing information and expert opionio about drugs and issues surrounding them. Visit www.DPFOK.org

WALTER CRONKITE CALLS THE DRUG WAR A FAILURE

by Alvena Bieri

The War on Drugs is a stupendous and destructive failure. Journalist Walter Cronkite says, "Today our nation is fighting two wars, one abroad and one at home. While the war in Iraq is in the headlines, the other war is still being fought in our streets. Its casualties are the wasted lives of our own citizens. I am speaking of the war on drugs." Cronkite recommends the short video, LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) which members of the Drug policy Forum of oklahoma saw at their April meeting.

LEAP is a group of law enforcement officers, undercover agents, and prosecutors who have waged the war on drugs firsthand and now reject it as ineffective and harmful. In the Spring of 2002 they organized all over the country and are now trying to educate the public on the issues. Jack Cole is the Executive Director. For 26 years he worked with the New Jersey State Police, 12 of them as an undercover narcotics agent. He and the others quoted in the film,most of them retired now now, agree that changes should be made in our drug policy. LEAP members argue that our present system of trying to control drugs results in many lives ruined, much public money wasted, and all without changing the situation for the better.

First, the wasted lives. A retired police chief from Seattle, Washington, says he is ashamed of the undercover work he did for many years. He trapped many young marijuana users and saw them go to jail. His conclusion is that the drug war is "immoral " since it's possible under the law that the use or possession of one marijuana joint can land the user in prison for seven years. A second conviction can be a felony. The "intent to distribute" is often interpreted to mean the individual simply has some marijuana in his pocket. That can possibly bring a 20-year sentence.

Another law enforcement official from New Jersey has come to the same conclusion, that the present system is not only a " dismal failure but a destructive policy." The estimate is, he says, that 1.3 percent of the population were addicted to some kind of illegal drug before the vigorous enforcement got started in the 1970's. That percentage has not changed at all.

Wasted money is another drawback. In Syracuse, New York, $10 million is spent every year on drug enforcement. In fact, most of that city's police money goes to it. Not only is it expensive, but many of these officers see it as racist, and in terms of ruined lives, as one of them puts it, "the most harmful legal punishment since slavery."

With 34 percent of the prison population there because of drug offenses some think that society is supporting the profitable industry of both public and private prisons. As these reformers point out , the money it costs to incarcerate one person for one year, about $17,000, could be better spent sending him (or her) to college.

No doubt there is big money in drug dealing. In an unusual "60 Minutes" segment a controversial person, Marc Emery of Canada, sometimes called the Prince of Pot, says he made over $50 million in ten years selling marijuana seeds all over the world. He says he has spent the profits trying to change the system. Right now he faces the possibility of being brought to the U.S. for trial. He could face life in prison.

We seem not to have learned much from history. Prohibition of alcohol did not work and created a new criminal class of gangsters who broke the law and made big profits from it, same as the drug dealers of today.

Legalization would save both money and lives and would provide more efficient regulation. It does not imply that use of destructive drugs is acceptable, and it would put more responsibility on society to educate the public about drug use as it has successfully done in the case of nicotine. If the LEAP campaign succeeds, we can finally say we are learning from history after all.

Annual Causes of Death in the United States

Updated from drugwarfacts.com 2006 edition.

Tobacco: 435,000 (see #1)
Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity: 365,000 (see #1)
Alcohol: 85,000 (see #1)
Microbial Agents: 75,000 (see #1)
Toxic Agents: 55,000 (see #1)
Motor Vehicle Crashes: 26,347 (see #1)
Adverse Reactions To Prescription Drugs: 32,000 (see #2)
Suicide: 30,622 (see #3)
Incidents Involving Firearms: 29,000 (see #1)
Homicide: 20,308 (see #4) Sexual Behaviors: 20,000 (see #1)
Illicit Use of Drugs: 17,000 (see #1 and #5)
Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Such As Aspirin: 7,600 (see #6)
Marijuana: 0 (see #7)

1. "The leading causes of death in 2000 were tobacco (435,000 deaths; 18.1% of total US deaths), poor diet and physical inactivity (400,000 deaths; 16.6%), and alcohol consumption (85,000 deaths; 3.5%). Other actual causes of death were microbial agents (75,000), toxic agents (55,000), motor vehicle crashes (43,000), incidents involving firearms (29,000), sexual behaviors (20,000), and illicit use of drugs (17,000)."

(Note: According to a correction published by the Journal on Jan. 19, 2005, "On page 1240, in Table 2, '400,000 (16.6)' deaths for 'poor diet and physical inactivity' in 2000 should be '365,000 (15.2).' A dagger symbol should be added to 'alcohol consumption' in the body of the table and a dagger footnote should be added with 'in 1990 data, deaths from alcohol-related crashes are included in alcohol consumption deaths, but not in motor vehicle deaths. In 2000 data, 16,653 deaths from alcohol-related crashes are included in both alcohol consumption and motor vehicle death categories." Journal of the American Medical Association, Jan. 19, 2005, Vol. 293, No. 3, p. 298.)

Source: Mokdad, Ali H., PhD, James S. Marks, MD, MPH, Donna F. Stroup, PhD, MSc, Julie L. Gerberding, MD, MPH, "Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000," Journal of the American Medical Association, March 10, 2004, Vol. 291, No. 10, pp. 1238, 1241. A copy of the report is at http://www.csdp.org/research/1238.pdf

May 10th Meeting

DPFOK Presents: Anna Holloway, Unitarian Universalist religious volunteer in Oklahoma prisons

Her topic: The Conditions faced by Women in prison. The next meeting of the DPFOK will be May 10, 2006. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. in the Westwood Elementary School Library, Sixth Avenue and Kings St., Stillwater (just across from the Warren Clinic).

Anna Holloway, Unitarian Universalist religious volunteer in Oklahoma prisons, will present a program on the conditions faced by women who are convicted of drug-related offenses and other types of crimes. She will discuss the types of rehabilitative programs available and the expenses inmates face in trying to learn skills to re-integrate into society.

Rev. Holloway lives in Norman and works primarily with women at Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McLoud. She is also a consultant to the Department of Corrections on the religious rights of inmates practicing non-traditional religions and she chairs the OK Corrections Advisory Council on Inmate Religious Rights and Practices, a council of religious volunteers and chaplains with input to the Corrections department via a DOC representative.

For all information call (405) 714-1236 or email whootchi@hotmail.com. The DPFOK is a Non-Profit 501-C-4 organization, contributions are not tax deductible.