Drug war called ‘abject failure’

[lexifer]

Former Seattle police chief calls for legalization

CALEB HEERINGA
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

BELLINGHAM — Despite more than a trillion dollars spent, drugs are more available today at lower prices and higher potency than at the beginning of America’s “war on drugs,” the former chief of the Seattle Police Department argued Thursday.
Norm Stamper, chief of the department from 1994 to 2000, spoke at Western Washington University in an event organized by the school’s Drug Information Center.
Speaking for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Stamper called the drug war an “abject failure” that has led to the unjust incarceration of millions and created a system that promotes a violent drug trade that has ravaged Mexico and the rest of Latin America.
“The incineration of human beings … decapitation … this is the kind of violence that a multibillion-dollar drug trafficking industry creates,” Stamper told a crowd of approximately 150 students and community members.
Stamper said the prohibition of drugs is partially responsible for that violence, since it creates a market that dealers exploit.
“The demand has always been greater than the supply, which is why the suppliers make so much on these drugs,” he said.
Stamper outlined some of the “collateral damage” of the drug war, including:
Students who have lost out on financial aid because of misdemeanor drug convictions.
Individuals living in poverty who have been denied federal public housing because of drug convictions. Stamper noted that neither rape nor murder convictions prevent someone from receiving public housing.
Nearly 2.3 million Americans jailed on drug charges, with nearly 90 percent of those convictions being simple possession. Stamper also argued that the drug war has disproportionately affected African Americans, leading to between seven and 10 times more black people being charged with drug crimes than white people.
As a solution, Stamper proposed legalizing all drugs and having the government regulate them — similar to the current system for alcohol and tobacco. Stamper argued that since decades of government intervention has done little to stem the flow of drugs into the country, the government may as well try to cut down on the violence inherent in the drug trade.
Several audience members questioned the morality and practicality of having the government sell drugs that could kill people and lead to addiction.
Stamper was not completely sure of the logistics, but countered by saying that drug addiction would be a reality whether users were getting their substance from the government or a drug dealer on the street.
Why not ensure that people were getting clean needles for intravenous drugs and using proper strength drugs that would limit overdoses, Stamper argued, pointing to the success of rehabilitation programs for addicts in Europe.
Either way, Stamper said America has erred in treating drugs as a criminal-justice issue instead of a publichealth issue.
“We spend seven times more on enforcement than we do on prevention and treatment,” he said. “Think about all the good that would be caused if we reversed that number.”

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/370673.html

[cra$h]

nothing better than a politician with power on our side.

[Paracelsus]

The former chief of a local police department is not a powerful politician, although LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) consists of many former (and still active?) law enforcement officers.

[Beanfondler]

Outstanding, Swibf is excitedly anticipating the probable and/or positive exposure this is likely to generate within the mainstream media. Damn that North Western moral wasteland posing as a state of this morally veiled union of prohibition.