[MrLeRoy]

"Our goal is [...] to actively reduce substance abuse in our society."

Where's the evidence that this goal is achievable? Alcohol consumption INCREASED during the last several years of Prohibition---and drug use trends show no correlation with Drug War efforts.

"We must find ways to lead them back to drug-free lives."

What about alcohol---which, unlike marijuana, can kill a person in a single evening of use, and is far more addictive than marijuana? Why isn't Walters seeking a war against alcohol?

[MrLeRoy]

Wod_list ping

[Xenalyte]

But were it not for the War on Drugs, Mr. Walters would be unemployed - and unemployable. How dare you deny him a chance to be a contributing member of society?

(Uh, heh heh, heh heh . . . heh heh, heh heh . . . I said "member.")

[Huck]

We have a responsibility - as family members, employers, physicians, educators, religious leaders, neighbors, colleagues and friends - to reach out to help these people

Throw them in prison. That ought to help. Now remember, it's for your own good.

[JohnGalt]

"We have a responsibility - as family members, employers, physicians, educators, religious leaders, neighbors, colleagues and friends - to reach out to help these people," Walters said. "We must find ways to lead them back to drug-free lives."

It takes a village, right Walters?

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Please God, save me from the people who want to save me from myself.

[BlazingArizona]

"We have a responsibility - as family members, employers, physicians, educators, religious leaders, neighbors, colleagues and friends - to reach out to help these people," Walters said. "We must find ways to lead them back to drug-free lives."

It's obvious why Democratic administrations would keep a national nanny like this around, but...what are the Republicans thinking?

[taxed2death]

This guy needs another hit from his bong.


You can lead a horse to water............

Why is it governments responsibility to interfere with the lives of the drug users?

Let them continue with their self destructive behavior and the problem will go away sooner, rather than later.

The government should strive for 100% purity for all hard core drugs hitting the streets, the problem will resolve itself in short order.

[Pahuanui]

Our goal is not to cope with the drug problem, but to actively reduce substance abuse in our society.

Thus clearly showing that the assumption they are going under is that any use of a controlled substance is automatically considered 'abuse'.

Ya know, just like a glass of wine at dinner makes one a stumbling, loudmouthed juicehound.

Up is down!
Black is white!
War is peace!

[missileboy]

Why isn't Walters seeking a war against alcohol?

Because sheeple cannot be led to believe that alcohol is bad - prohibition proved to be a failure. Additionally there is no need to make it illegal. The Gubmint has already done fine taxing it and selling liquour licenses etc.

In contrast, elements in our society that do not value the principle of a person's right to do as he/she wants to his/her own body, believe that certain drugs are bad. Much more importantly, the WOD is a boon for gubmint bureaucrats that thrive on demagoguery, asset forfeiture, and the controlling of doctors- not to mention illegal wars funded by the running of illegal drugs by the CIA and other powers (Vietnam, Iran Contra etc.) If opium and cocaine were legal, how could Ollie North have made so much untraceable cash in so little time to fight the "communist threat" in Nicaragua? How could the CIA do the same to fight "terrorism" in the Middle East?

[tacticalogic]

"We must find ways to lead them back to drug-free lives."

Hint - you don't "lead" anyone at gunpoint.

[citizenK]

Here's the full article:

---

'Drug czar' promises no end to war
More than 40,000 in Colorado admitted to rehab programs in 2001

By Mike Patty, Rocky Mountain News
October 2, 2002

There will be no letup in the country's battle against drug abuse, "drug czar" John P. Walters said Tuesday in Denver.

"Our goal is not to cope with the drug problem, but to actively reduce substance abuse in our society," Walters said in an address to the National Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities conference. "The greatest threat is the notion that we ought to give up and simply treat those people who are addicted."

Walters, director of the office of National Drug Control Policy, said President Bush's administration has set a goal of reducing drug use among Americans by 25 percent in the next five years. Drug treatment funding will expand by $1.6 billion during that time. "That is an ambitious goal, but it is doable," Walters said.

Last year, more than 40,000 people in Colorado were admitted into drug treatment programs.

An estimated 8.7 percent of Colorado residents age 12 and older use illegal drugs, compared with 6.4 percent nationally.

Most Coloradans in treatment used marijuana, almost twice the number of people receiving treatment for methamphetamine.

A profile of drug use in Denver, issued by the office of National Drug Control Policy, indicated heroin is widely available in the city, with the majority of sales taking place in the lower downtown area. The predominant user group is adult white males living in the core city, although suburban user groups are emerging.

The most common form of using heroin is injecting it, though younger adults also tend to use heroin by snorting or smoking it.

Crack and powder cocaine are widely available, with users tending to be black or white adults over the age of 30. Despite declines in crack cocaine use, supplies continue to come into the city from street gangs in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Marijuana availability has increased in the city and mostly comes from Mexico through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Young adults make up the primary selling group.

Methamphetamine is one of the most commonly abused drugs and is widely available in Denver. Much of the drug originates in Mexico, but law enforcement officials have seen an increase in small, local meth labs. From January to March, 85 methamphetamine labs were seized in the Rocky Mountain area.

Drug abuse and crime are closely linked, according to the profile. In 1999 in Denver, 66.8 percent of males and 69.1 percent of females arrested tested positive for drugs at the time of their arrest.

Walters said efforts must continue to prevent, intervene in and treat drug abuse.

"We must also change the cultural environment of denial," Walters said.

"Of the 6 million people addicted to drugs, more than half don't believe they have a problem. Denial is part of the disease."

Walters later visited a Denver juvenile drug court, one of eight drug courts in the state.

Drug courts provide an alternative to jail by using the authority of the criminal justice system to help substance abusers get treatment and stay in recovery.

"We have a responsibility - as family members, employers, physicians, educators, religious leaders, neighbors, colleagues and friends - to reach out to help these people," Walters said. "We must find ways to lead them back to drug-free lives."


pattym@RockyMountainNews.com or (303) 892-5423

---

[Uncle Fud]

Wow, 27 intelligent posts in sequence. Time for Dane to show up and break the flow.

[The FRugitive]

"The greatest threat is the notion that we ought to give up and simply treat those people who are addicted."

The greatest threat to what?

[verity]

People of weak character abuse many things!