A reader writes:
In a comment to The Guardian, a spokesman for White House drug tsar Gil Kerlikowske disagreed with the report‘s conclusions by saying, “Drug addiction is a disease that can be successfully prevented and treated. Making drugs more available – as this report suggests – will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe.”
First, as far as I can tell, the report does not suggest making drugs more available (unless you count the use of heroin in heroin treatment). More importantly, though, the quote reveals a serious flaw in the drug tsar’s understanding of the way things are.
Drugs are readily available to anyone who wants to use them. Current drug policy does not reduce the availability of drugs in our communities. The most difficult drug to acquire before I turned 21 was alcohol. It was easier to get almost anything else. Drug dealers never check ID.
Another writes:
You saying that “the Obama administration refuses to accept the empirically obvious” is unfair.
Neither of the main parties accepts the empirically obvious. Stating the empirically obvious could easily be a career-ending move, despite public support for many aspects of ending the war on drugs (e.g. marijuana decriminalization), the public is also easily convinced that any liberalization will result in drug fiends and more violent crime. The Obama administration can’t even do much to change drug policy because much of it (sentencing, funding and mandate for the DEA, drug scheduling, etc.) are a matter of law he is bound to uphold and which will require many members of Congress both parties to change. At least the Obama administration is recommending ending one of the worst Drug War inequities we’ve had since the 1980s — the crack vs powder cocaine sentencing rules.
Another:
Eric Holder is apparently supporting a retroactive easing of federal penalties for crack-cocaine. Sounds reasonable enough. And I’m glad Congress reduced the sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine last year (though they are still 18-1 apparently). Effing baby steps, but at least it’s something.
The Dish 