War on Drugs no more

Despite continued efforts on the part of law enforcement officials to incarcerate non-violent drug offenders, there is growing evidence to suggest that the “War on Drugs” might be coming to its slow, inevitable end.

It’s about time.

In a May interview, new White House Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske said he wanted to abolish the expression “War on Drugs.”

It was an announcement that came alongside a claim that President Barack Obama’s administration planned to treat illicit drug use as a health problem rather than a crime.
In the case of most non-violent drug offenders, incarceration is an absolute waste of public money (roughly $22,000 per inmate annually).

Even worse, studies show that roughly two-thirds of all U.S. inmates are arrested again after their release.

Jail is an absurd excuse for a drug rehabilitation method and an ineffective deterrent of crime. The Obama administration and a number of state governments are gradually beginning to come to this realization – though some not soon enough.

Earlier this year, desperate and jobless, I went to the Monroe County Parks and Recreation office to inquire about a job.

“Sorry,” they said. “We’re actually laying staff off.”

The county, I was told, was funneling money out of their department and into the “Correctional Center” (the county jail).

Ironic, I thought, that they were taking funding away from the programs that give kids a reason to stay away from drugs and crime, like summer camps, and putting it toward an overcrowded lockup. This would probably only perpetuate the problem.

Obama’s recent move to sign an executive order that, for now, ends federal prosecution against medical marijuana, seems to indicate a long-overdue shift in public policy toward drug enforcement. Now, people are beginning to question the cost of trying to prohibit medicinal use.

But marijuana is not the only Schedule I substance that has recently been considered for medical applications.

Research into psychedelics, which was banned in the United States for 30 years, is once again underway with the approval of the Food and Drug Administration. The results of these tests have been surprising.

In a Harvard study on the effects of psychedelics on cluster headaches, for example, Dr. John Halpern tested 53 people suffering from the condition who had taken LSD or psilocybin (the active chemical in “magic mushrooms”) and found that nearly all of them experienced an extended period of remission immediately following consumption.

In another study conducted by South Carolina psychiatrist Dr. Michael Mithoefer, the use of MDMA (commonly known as Ecstasy) was found to increase the success rate of therapy sessions with patients suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

All drugs – even prescription – can be abused, no doubt, and some of them are very dangerous and entirely detrimental. But those that are found to be effective in treating certain debilitating conditions can be utilized responsibly, and in some cases – in a controlled, clinical setting – they should be.

After all, why should we deny relief for somebody who suffers from constant mental or physical pain simply because of a waning social taboo?