The DEA and other organizations would have the American people
believe that we are winning the "war on drugs".  I'm going to
dispel the propaganda that the DEA is putting out by showing
you the drug war's *real* status. To help prove my assertions
I've also posted two articles from USA Today that clearly
demonstrate that drug use among certain age groups *is* on the
rise.  If WOD is working, as we're led to believe, then drug
abuse should have gone down substantially by now.  The reality
is, is that it has not gone down very much.  If anything,
substance abuse is on the rise.  I'm also going to supply a
possible solution to this problem.

The following text is an excerpt from an article about rock music
and pot entitled "Hello Again, Mary Jane" which appears in the
current issue of Time magazine (April 19, 1993, p. 59).

    Law-enforcement officials say pot advocates are just blowing
    smoke when they talk about the comeback of the weed.  "Perhaps
    because of the change of administrations, the marijuana lobby
    is out in full force," says Robert Bonner, head of the Drug
    Enforcement Administration.  "The fact is, they're losing the
    battle."  In 1985 more than 23% of youths ages 12 to 17 said
    they smoked marijuana; in 1991 that figure was 13%, and Bonner
    says it is still falling.  Bonner also offers a reminder that
    studies confirm such marijuana health risks as destruction of
    nerve cells in the brain and lung damage.

The chart that follows was taken from the Wednesday, April 14, 1993
issue of USA Today ("Drug Use Up Among U.S. Eigth-graders" by Mike
Snider, p. 6D).

    Adolescents' choices

    Drugs used by eighth graders in the last month:
                      Estimated, per 100 students
                             1991     1992   Pct. chg.
    Alcohol                  25.1     26.1        +4%
    Cigarettes               14.3     15.5        +8%
    Marijuana                 3.2      3.7       +16% 
    Amphetamines              2.6      3.3       +27%
    LSD                       0.6      0.9       +50%
    Cocaine                   0.5      0.7       +40%
    Crack                     0.3      0.5       +67%

    Source:  University of Michigan Institute for Social Research,
    1993 report

We are not winning the "war on drugs".  I think you can see that one
of the tactics that the DEA employs to give people the impression that
the "war on drugs" is being won is to selectively quote statistics---
only statistics that support their contention that drug use has gone
down.  The excerpt from Time magazine that I included in this post is
an excellent example of how organizations like the DEA attempt to
deceive the public.

Usage of *one* particular drug may have gone down but at the same
time usage of other drugs may have gone *up* (a.k.a. substitution).
Also, drug usage among *one* particular age group may have gone down
but drug usage among another age group may have gone *up*.  Therefore,
if one takes a look at the big picture, taking into consideration *all*
the statistics, then it's obvious that the so-called "war on drugs" is
being lost.  Perhaps the drug war is being won as far as illegal drugs
go, but if one factors in alcohol abuse, smoking, and use of inhalants,
then the magnitude of the drug problem in this country can then placed
in its true perspective.

For those of you who don't consider alcohol to be a drug then try
drinking a fifth of whiskey sometime and then come back and tell me
that it's not a drug.  Agencies like the DEA only go after *illegal*
drugs.  This is one of the reasons why the drug war is a fruitless
attempt at preventing substance abuse---people will merely switch to
another drug if the one they were using becomes scarce or unpopular.

The solution to the drug abuse problem in this country may be to
legalize some---not all---drugs whose toxicity has been shown to be
within reasonable limits (you won't drop dead after using it a few
times) and then couple this with a massive drug education program.
The reason why I think legalization is *part* of the solution is
because people seem to be able to easily obtain drugs despite the
government's efforts to the contrary---the money spent on drug
interdiction could be spent more effectively elsewhere (e.g., drug
education).  Additionally, legalization would reduce crime because
the profit motive would be taken out of drug trafficking which often
goes along with other kinds of crime.  Not to mention the fact that
addicts would have less reason to prey on innocent people for their
money and posessions in order to support their expensive habit;
legalization would cause the street price of drugs to fall
substantially so drugs would be much more affordable to addicts.

IMHO, the way to reduce substance abuse is to do to drugs what has been
done to smokers:  make drug use socially unacceptable rather than try to
employ heavy-handed law enforcement and punish people by incarcerating
them.  As you already know, people in the U.S. smoke a lot less than
they used to.  This reduction in the number of smokers has been brought
about by public awareness campaigns, laws restricting where people can
light up, warning labels on cigarette packages, taxation on tobacco in
order to reduce consumption, and so on.  I propose that similar methods
be used to reduce substance abuse after legalization has been carried
out.  They are as follows:

    * Drugs being sold must come with clear, concise information which
      states the possible health hazzards involved with using this
      product and recommendations on how the drug should be used.
      Things like dosage levels and how long the drug should be used
      ought to accompany the packaging the drug is contained in.

    * All drugs should be taxed at a rate that generates a lot of
      revenue but not so high as to encourage people to acquire drugs
      through illegal channels.  Part of the revenue collected from
      drug taxes should be used to fund drug education and law
      enforcement.

    * Make it a felony to sell drugs to minors (people under the age of
      18).  Anyone can sell drugs but they must not dodge paying the
      taxes on drugs or sell drugs with the warning information absent.
      Failure to pay the appropiate taxes on drugs or omitting warning
      information should also be a felony.

    * Establish a government agency whose job is to insure that the
      purity and safety of all drugs is as high as possible.  This
      agency would try to prevent people from getting a hold of bad
      drugs---something that is a fairly serious problem now.

I'm sure that many of the things I've discussed in this article have
been hashed out before in this newsgroup.  Nevertheless, I thought
it was a good idea to give my two cents (actually a buck and a half...)
all at once so you could get a good idea of where I currently stand on
WOD.  Go ahead and tear into my post; I'm sure there is something in it
that you may wish to take a different view on or flame. :) :) :)  BTW,
I posted the articles from USA Today to not only help prove my
assertions but also to provide information on LSD usage among youths---
something which I noticed some posters to this group were interested in.

Scott Kennedy,  Brewer and Patriot