STAY CLOSE TO HOME

This news summary from Join Together makes a good point – why go to the South American jungle to handle the drug problem in the United States?

Just as demand is created here at home, so it can be stemmed.  It depends on who is doing the talking.  Kids can either learn from home and school that drugs are dangerous and the consequences will be severe and dealt with by the family.  Or they can learn from their friends that drugs are “fun”.

Right now too many kids are listening to those who are telling them that heroin, methamphetamine, pot, cocaine and prescription drugs are cool.

Let’s tell them something else.

And if they have already been caught up in drugs and are addicted, reduce their demand by offering effective drug treatment.

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“A report prepared by former policymakers from the United States and Latin America called on the incoming Obama administration to reevaluate American counternarcotics policy in Latin America, calling the war on drugs a failure, the New York Times reported Nov. 23.

Thomas Pickering, co-chairman of the commission that produced the report and a former U.S. undersecretary of state, noted that drug traffickers have moved their operations farther into the jungle in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, making the current approach to drug eradication less successful. While efforts to control drug production must continue, Pickering said, the U.S needed to stem demand at home.”

http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2008/report-suggests-change-in.html

GOOD NEWS

This is excellent news for drug offenders, providing that the drug treatment provided is effective.

Heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs of abuse all respond to effective treatment.

Some treatment programs work and some don’t.  Let’s use some of the money we save from not incarcerating everyone to do research on workability of programs.

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“More than 25 states as well as Washington, D.C., are exploring alternative-sentencing methods and revamping probation and parole programs to cut the rising cost of keeping inmates in prison, the Washington Post reported July 13.

Governors and legislatures are particularly investing in drug courts, which offer low-level drug offenders treatment and weekly meetings with a judge as a way of keeping them from serving prison time.  States are also turning to the 500 courts nationwide designated for people arrested for driving under the influence so that offenders will be sent to treatment programs and undergo random tests instead of being sent to jail.”

http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2009/states-exploring-drug-courts.html

GIVING DEALERS A DEAL

This article from Join Together fails to note one point – the countries where drug dealing is executable by death don’t have the drug abuse problems that other, more permissive countries do!

Areas where drug dealers are allowed to roam free have plenty of business and leave a wake of death and suffering in their wake.

Dealing drugs is commensurate with murder because people die.  Heroin, methadone, cocaine and methamphetamine shorten the life span of individuals who take them.

Narconon drug treatment 877-413-3073

“Governments worldwide should stop imposing capital punishment on drug traffickers and other drug offenders, said a group of addiction researchers in a recent editorial.

eScience News reported July 14 that the editorial published in the August 2009 issue of the journal Addiction said that execution does not effectively deter drug crime, since usually only impoverished and replaceable drug couriers are caught and punished. “

http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2009/stop-executing-drug.html

PILL MILLS

This article explains the “pill mill” phenomena in Florida, but fails to point out that in addition to the 900 overdoses that occurred in Florida, other states, especially Kentucky have been fatally affected by the easy drugs in Florida.

Dealers buy prescription drugs in Florida and take them elsewhere to sell. Kentucky has had scores of overdoses from pharmaceuticals that originated in Florida.

Perhaps Florida legislatures should concentrate on getting their tourist business booming.  Pill mills are a sorry answer to the economy.

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“A combination of a high concentration of doctors, loose state regulations and lax oversight by law enforcement has helped contribute to South Florida’s reputation as America’s “pill mill capital,” the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported July 19.

For the first time, the prescription drug oxycodone, not cocaine, has been identified as the most lethal drug in Florida, according to state medical examiners and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. More than 900 fatal overdoses occurred statewide in 2008.

Broward and Palm Beach County are at the center of Florida’s “perfect storm” of prescription drug abuse, with fatal overdoes related to oxycodone increasing by 20 percent from 2007 to 2008, according to state authorities.  The two counties had a combined total of 221 deaths related to oxycodone last year.”

http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2009/many-factors-contribute-to.html