Drug Czar says drug war a success; NORML thinks differently

In the Wall Street Journal, John Walters was touting the success he’s achieved in the War on Drugs:

Whatever challenges await him, President-elect Barack Obama will not have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to keeping a lid on the use of illegal drugs. Our policy has been a success — although that success is one of Washington’s best kept secrets.

Walters notes that teen drug use has declined six straight years (though it has stopped declining in that seventh year).  Walters thinks that’s due to his policies, though studies have shown his massive anti-marijuana ad campaign was a dud.  I think it’s just as likely that teen drug use declines in a poor economy or even that more medical marijuana states lead to less teen drug use.  Actually, I think commenter Eva Joren at the Wall Street Journal’s opinion forum might be on to something when she wrote:

Specifically in the schools, could it be that so many kids are now legally medicated by their doctors that they no longer feel the need to self-medicate with recreational drugs?

This weekend, NORML’s Paul Armentano got the first response letter published to Walters’ ravings:

Is the Drug War Working or Worse Than the Disease?

Outgoing Drug Czar John P. Walters claims that the U.S. “war” on drugs is working (“Our Drug Policy Is a Success,” Dec. 5), but that’s true only if one redefines success.

Here’s the reality: Illegal substances — from marijuana to cocaine to heroin — are more potent and more available than at any time in history. Deaths from illicit-drug overdoses are at an all-time high, and most illicit substances are cheaper than ever before.

Thanks to the strict enforcement of America’s drug laws, which primarily target nonviolent drug offenders, police now arrest some 1.8 million citizens every year for drug crimes — over 800,000 for minor marijuana offenses alone. As a result, the U.S. has earned the unique distinction of jailing a greater percentage of its population than any other industrialized nation.

If this is Mr. Walters definition of “success,” then I shudder to think what he would consider to be failure.

Paul Armentano
Deputy Director
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
Washington