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
I posted the full article because some of the Walters' statements at the end warrant comment and everyone should see his statements in context. (Not being from the WP or LA Times, the whole article can be posted - right?)
"Denial is part of the disease."
Walters co-opts the "drug abuse is a disease" argument. If he really believes this is the case, then we should see a whole host of new policies by the government meant to mitigate the effects of drug abuse on communities and families. Instead, we see the same old brutish tactics employed by drug enforcers, no-knock raids, property confiscation, and the incarceration of drug users. These are the same old policies that lead to an escalation of violence on the street, violence initiated and perpetrated by drug enforcement agents, and the empowerment of organized crime and criminal gangs.
What other diseases does the society deal with in such a draconian manner that pushes the limits of the Constitution?
I don't think Walters genuinely believes in what he is saying here, and I wonder why he applies the "disease" argument here. By labeling the problem as a disease, the problem of drugs focuses upon individual users and their behavior, not the drugs themselves. This is completely contrarian to the current modus operendi of the feds on this issue. Juxtapose his comments on the disease of drug addiction with the current policy to go after sick and dying people seeking the use of mj to relieve their symptoms. Is the government really worried that terminally ill people in hospice will require drug treatment?
Walters' statements outlined in this article reveal the cognitive dissonance underlying federal drug enforcement policies.
(BTW, I don't like the "drug abuse = disease" argument because in many instances it opens the door to the institutionalization of drug treatment, surely to be sponsored by the taxpayer. Drug treatment needs to be available for people who truly want it. The growing drug treatment industry, working hand-in-hand with the criminal justice system is a recipe for further social problems and corruption.)