Drug crisis defies easy solutions

One reader invited me to Hempfest; another called me a moron.

In Thursday's column, I wrote about a conversation I had with Larry Bobo, a leading expert on race and crime.

He's on a crusade to get people to rethink the war on drugs, which has driven the prison population to senseless levels and filled cells with black men in highly disproportionate numbers. Men come out of prison unrehabilitated and stigmatized. They can't get work, and most wind up back in custody.

"One could always not use the drugs," one reader wrote sarcastically. But most people raised sincere questions.

Personal responsibility is a good idea, but as public policy it takes some work.

More than one reader blamed our current situation on Nancy Reagan for telling her husband the answer is to "Just Say No."

The Reagan administration and the country adopted no-tolerance as national policy. In 1980, there were fewer then 300,000 people in prison in the U.S. Today, 2 million people are in prisons and jails.

The drug war drives that level of imprisonment.

The drug war began at a time when many of our cities were in economic distress. Jobs that people in those areas depended on were beginning to disappear. And the government was cutting back on programs that helped cities and poor people, including job-training programs.

Some readers cited that confluence of events as contributing to the racial imbalance in prisons. Blacks are imprisoned at a rate seven times that of white people.

Of course, there is one easy conclusion, which a number of people mentioned. Maybe black people just commit more crime.

The UW did a study of drug arrests in Seattle a few years ago that focused on heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine. By far most of the users and sellers in the city were white, but black people were being arrested in numbers out of proportion to their participation in the drug market.

Race is an issue, but a number of readers said class ought not to be ignored.

That's true. Money makes a difference. But, of course, there is a racial disparity in that area, too.

Nothing about the problem is simple. The answer to it can't be simple either.

People who have something to lose would be more likely to listen to all the messages out there about the dangers of drug use.

That's where we should start.

One reader wanted me to remind people that America's drug problem doesn't just hurt us.

Mexican gangs supplying drugs are so powerful that people there say the police are no match for them. This year, drug-related violence has already taken 1,000 lives.

Americans in law enforcement and the courts are looking for better solutions.

Politicians are beginning to realize something's broken, too.

Voters need to support them. Let them know we no longer think looking beyond easy answers is being soft on crime.

Jerry Large's column appears Monday and Thursday. Reach him at 206-464-3346 or jlarge@seattletimes.com.