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The life 
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Warren Swil
 
 
 
 
 

V 1.2

by Warren Swil

Glendale News-Press March 4, 1994

A growing number of respected jurists is publicly questioning the wisdom of continuing this country's decade old "War on Drugs." Judges have to deal on a daily basis with the results of a federal policy that only suicidal politicians would oppose. But it is their frontline experience which makes members of the judiciary so eminently qualified to comment on whether we are winning or losing the war. 

When they say we are losing, we must pay attention. Visiting Glendale recently, Orange County Superior Court Judge John P. Gray argued that our society's attempt to curb drug trafficking and drug abuse through the criminal justice system has been a monumental failure. 

On Tuesday this week, Gray was joined by US. District Judge Vaughn Walker, a Republican nominated by President Ronald Reagan to the federal bench in 1987. Walker, whose conservative credentials are impeccable, called for decriminalization of drugs because, “I don't see the use or sale of drugs as a criminal problem. It's a social problem,” Judge Gray told the meeting of Glendale-area lawyers and judges.

“Using prisons to combat drugs has been a massive failure. But we do have options.” 
These two judges have made the most cogent arguments for a national debate over the current approach of incarcerating drug traffickers and abusers: that substance abuse is a social -and medical problem, and that there are options to the current practice of throwing all drug-related convicts into prison for long periods of time. 

One can hardly deny that the causes of drug abuse are social; in many cases, the individuals in-volved suffer from serious alien-ation and hopelessness. Many are unable to find work, so they turn to the highly lucrative trade in illegal drugs which has become immensely profitable. 

According to Judge Gray, drug trafficking is a $70-billion per year business; furthermore it is untaxed, unregulated and largely controlled by organized crime. “We have undermined the work ethic in our society by making the trafficking of drugs the most lucra-tive activity that most of our people can engage in,” Gray says. 

Not only is the profit motive at work, but it has also resulted in thousands of inner-city youth having drug sellers as their role models instead of people who work hard and pursue an education. These are the unintended consequences of the present war on drugs, which uses the criminal justice system as the main weapon in it arsenal. They also are the cause of major problems. 

But the intended consequences are also problematical.

Among the most serious is prison overcrowding. The state of California alone has undertaken a massive prison construction program in the past decade, and still its facilities are overcrowded. Many jails are under court orders to reduce overcrowding, so early parole is common, resulting in the release of violent, repeat offenders to make room for someone convicted of possessing a small amount of an illegal substance for personal use. 

And the forecasts are dire. Mandatory minimum sentencing laws are contributing toward even more serious prison overcrowding, and taxpayers are refusing to approve new revenues to build more prisons.

Furthermore, the state of California is likely to run a billion-dollar deficit this year; it cannot afford the rapid increase in expenditures to house, feed and provide medical care for its burgeoning prison population.

It’s a no-win situation.

Quite clearly, the war on drugs is failing miserably. Drug abuse continues to soar, and drug-related crime has increased alarmingly. The federal government has hardly dented the flow across our borders, and it is not likely to do so until it finds a way to significantly decrease domestic demand.

In view of the evident failure of the “war” on drugs, it is time to begin a national debate on the alternatives. Among them are decriminalization and legalization, treatment of addicts and education campaigns. 

If certain substances such as marijuana were decriminalized and taxed, the new funds raised could be spent on treatment and education programs. The possibilities are endless.

And they should be explored. Rejecting all debate out of hand is a knee-jerk response whose time has passed. Rational, knowledgeable people from many disciplines should be engaged to shed light on the alternatives available. 

It has already been proved that no amount of enforcement nor draconian sentencing laws are going to make a difference. It's time for a new approach, and a rational, reasoned debate is needed to arrive at it. 

Warren Swil is news editor of the News-Press.