Originally published Friday, May 15, 2009 at 2:55 PM
Comments (25)
E-mail article
Print view
Share
Editorial
The new drug czar is right, end the "war on drugs"
The nation's new drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, wants to move federal policy toward treatment and away from incarceration. He begins with a good idea, scrap the "war on drugs" for a description that does not sound like the country is against its own citizens.
Seattle Times editorial
FORMER Seattle Police chief Gil Kerlikowske is making headlines by making clear the nation's new drug czar intends to scrap the frayed and fractious "war on drugs" for a fresher description.
He is absolutely right, words do matter. The "war on terror" was more than hyperbole for the Bush administration, which used the phrase to invoke, and invent, all manner of executive powers and prerogatives the country is still learning about.
Kerlikowske, the Obama administration's director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, wants to promote treatment over sending drug users to jail:
"Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on product,' people see a war as a war on them," he told The Wall Street Journal. "We're not at war with the people in this country."
Kerlikowske has his own long law-enforcement career to draw on, but he was also exposed to successful use of drug courts in King County, which work to steer those convicted toward help and away from being locked up. National experience with diversion and drug courts found them to be half as expensive as prison time.
Resources for law enforcement and the bricks and mortar of jails and prisons is clearly an issue for the administration, and states and local governments around the country. Locking people away yielded dubious results at very high costs to public treasuries.
The Obama administration already decided not to go after medical-marijuana facilities in states that changed local laws, laws in tension with federal regulations. The president campaigned on lifting a federal ban on needle-exchange programs that seek to reduce HIV infections.
The United States is working through the consequences of three decades of policy that was no more creative than lock 'em up, forever. Columnist Neal Peirce has reported on an unintended consequence to prison reform: politically powerful unions representing tens of thousands of guards. Prisons are employment centers in many states.
Kerlikowske raises important points about treatment versus incarceration as he assumes his new job. He will accomplish none of the good ideas — including banishing the war on drugs — without the steady support of his new boss, President Obama.
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
Charles Krauthammer / Syndicated columnist: New York trial a propaganda coup for terrrorists

LA Galaxy's David Beckham
Los Angeles Galaxy's David Beckham talks about the upcoming MLS Cup final during after a team practice.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Italian lead prosecutor argues Knox motive was hatred
- Tugboat sinks on Seattle's waterfront
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Italian prosecutors request life sentence for UW student
- Man shot in chest on E. Union Street in Capitol Hill
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Mariners Blog | A Mariners-Tigers swap makes a whole lot of sense for both teams
- Senate vote clears hurdle
239 - Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
120 - Tight Senate vote launches health care over hurdle
119 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
118 - Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities
116 - Cutting through breast-cancer confusion
89 - Prosecutor requests life in prison for Amanda Knox
88 - Game thread
70 - New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
53 - Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
48
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Nonprofits get creative using Twitter and Facebook to make donation easier
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Lynnwood is reinventing itself — again
- Great places to cross-country ski for free (or almost) in the Methow
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Recipes: Sesame Pork Roast, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce and more
- Banff: powder, peaks & purity
- 175 foster kids in Washington get 'forever families'






