TheAgitator.com
Drug Czar Fail
Monday, October 13th, 2008John Tierney digs up the Bush administration’s 2002 National Drug Control Strategy, and notes that the administration has unsurprisingly come up far short in its goal to reduce illegal drug use by 25 percent within five years.
There has been an overall decline, but it’s been marginal—less than four percent. Nevertheless, we continue to set new annual records in overall marijuana arrests, and drug czar John Walter’s office is dubiously trumpeting the slight declines as vindication that the Bush-Walters overall strategy is working.
But there’s a side to this discussion that’s quite a more nefarious than your usual drug warrior manipulation of data.
The ONDCP has been celebrating these marginal declines (largely driven by declines in the use of marijuana) as a "success" for a couple of years now. From a piece I wrote in February:
In December 2006, the ONDCP put out a triumphant press release celebrating a five-year decline in the use of illicit drugs among teens.
"There has been a substance abuse sea change among American teens," Walters said in the release. "They are getting the message that dangerous drugs damage their lives and limit their futures. We know that if people don’t start using drugs during their teen years, they are very unlikely to go on to develop drug problems later in life."
But here’s what the ONDCP doesn’t want to talk about:
But the following February, the Centers for Disease Control reported that deaths from drug overdoses rose nearly 70 percent over the previous five years.
Half the overdose deaths were attributable to cocaine, heroin, and prescription drugs (the number of overdose deaths caused by marijuana—the drug most targeted by the ONDCP—remained at zero). One of the biggest increases (113%) came among aged 15-22, those same teenagers Walters was celebrating just three months earlier.
We’re told that drug war is a moral imperative because, in the words of Walters himself, "dangerous drugs damage [children's] lives and limit their futures." But like most temperance zealots, Walters measures success not by actual lives wrecked or ended prematurely, but merely by how many people are and aren’t getting high.
Switching from the "drugs ruin lives" justification for the drug war itself to "how many people are getting high" when measuring the same drug war’s effectiveness, then, hides a more important statistic: How many people have had their lives ruined and futures limited by the drug war? The vast majority of the 873,000 people arrested for marijuana offenses last year, for example, likely had more damage done to their lives by the prohibition of marijuana than could ever be done by the drug itself.
Such is why drug warriors like William Bennett, Karen Tandy, and Walters can assert with a straight face that alcohol prohibition was, also, a "success." Sure, the crime rate spiked, alcohol hospitalizations soared, and corruption and contempt for the rule of law was rampant. But fewer people swallowed down less demon rum. So, score one for social engineering.
Sure, deaths from drug overdose have jumped 70 percent, and more than doubled among young people. But fewer people are smoking pot. And that means we’re winning.
(the number of overdose deaths caused by marijuana—the drug most targeted by the ONDCP—remained at zero)
Maybe so, but if cannabis was legalized the death rate would soar by 50-100%!
I’m fine with a new Prohibition. It’ll fail horribly. I’m fine with pretty much anything that delegitimizes the government in the eyes of the people. The way to freedom is to feed leviathan until it bursts.
Radley, you remind me of those parents I occasionally see out in public who explain in a calm and lucid manner to their child why they shouldn’t be running down the aisles, throwing things that don’t belong to them on the floor, or screaming at the top of their lungs. Rarely seems to work.
About the only thing that would work would be if the head of the ONDCP found himself riding shotgun to one of those drug raids gone “bad” (ie, homeowner defended himself from government thugs).
Ok, that probably wouldn’t help either – just multiply the number of police tanks and ramp up the hysteria. But at least there would be one less head of the ONDCP.
[...] 13, 2008 by Abhishek Radley Balko points out the intellectual bankruptcy of the war on drugs: We’re told that drug war is a moral imperative [...]
Of course the drug war is working, just look at how many more people are being arrested!
Or maybe this whole “drug war” thing is just a miscommunication. Who knows what subjective words like, “success” or “ruins lives” really mean anyway?
How does the ONDCP measure such statistics as illicit drug use with any degree of certainty? It’s not like they can read a manufacturer or distributor 10K filing of such things. 4% is bound to be within the margin of error of such underground behavior – especially when the incentive to NOT tell the truth is so high. I guess we must infer greatly from things that are measurably certain – like number of arrests and ER room deaths.
If I recall correctly the real reason for repeal of alcohol prohibition had much to do with the feds needing money, moreso than it’s total failure.
Perhaps the current financial crisis will lead to such a need for money again and bring an opportunity to see at least some reasonable reforms like legalizing and taxing marijuana for adults like alcohol.
Yeah, I know the republican fundy heads would explode but hey I can dream.
(the number of overdose deaths caused by marijuana—the drug most targeted by the ONDCP—remained at zero)
Maybe so, but if cannabis was legalized the death rate would soar by 50-100%!
HA!
thank you z
ditto, DJB. you’re a funny one Z.
anyway, we all know that the ONDCP tracks their progress using the “household-pets-shot-per-year-mometer”.
“drug czar John Walter’s office is dubiously trumpeting the slight declines as vindication that the Bush-Walters overall strategy is working.”
Only government can get away with:
1. The strategy is working, we’re winning, so we need more money to finish the job.
2. The strategy is failing, we’re losing, so we need more money to finish the job.
This is the kind of illogic that results when force enters the equation.
Dear low-level ONDCP do-gooder,
After 5 years at a 4 year school studying political science you were ready for the world. After repeating 9,000 times you “just want to make a difference, you felt the call of duty. You suffered through endless interviews, ass kissing, schmoozing, researching to land that entry-level bureaucrat job…
…
and you are making powerpoints for John Walter’s so he can lie on camera to further a lost and misguided cause at the expense of American freedom.
Congratulations! Your ideals are dead. Your desire to do what’s ethical is dead. You have no integrity. You, sir, have become a political hack, causer of pain, suffering, and waste. You have learned so soon that respect isn’t earned, it’s shouted. If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes truth.
You dickhead.
Radley: I question if even the NUMBERS are accurate.
The ONDCP is not exactly known for their fealty to reality and, even if they were, how does one know that their “decline” in usage is accurate. Usage cannot be reliably measured such that any decline could be statistical error, study design etc.
Deaths from overdoses is also not a great measure of usage. Increased usage would explain an increase in overdose deaths. Increased enforcement may also explain the increase in overdose deaths.
However, its a number that is pretty hard for the ONDCP to fudge. That dead kid is a pretty clear (and sad) data point. Either way, the increase in deaths is an indictment on the ONDCP: either they have failed and/or they have converted an issue of public morality into a death sentence.
So, my question for the ONDCP is, how do they explain their touted “decline” in view of the clear increase in overdose deaths?
Are the overdoses considered a part of the four percent?
[...] RELATED: In fairnes Congress pushed the copyright czar on president Bush. Here’s the law: The Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act. Radley Balko has more on The Drug Czar’s failings. [...]
Maybe instead of a war on drugs they should do somthing that makes sense for once. How bout a war on corrupt superbankers and the Wall Street elite instead of drugs? They could put the asset forfeitures laws to some good use. Wouldn’t be as safe as raiding potheads but cops are well equipped these days. Or hey, maybe they could use some of those new Bush laws and get the military involved. Bankers are way more of a threat than terrorist.
The teflon czar has grown velcro. It’s all out in the open now,the fraud ,known as the WOD’s, the BIGGEST fraud ever perpetrated, is an abject failure…unless your job depends on it. When do the drug-war-crimes trials begin?
War on Drugs
War on Poverty
War on Terror
All three of these wars have only increased the power and scope of the things being targeted.
I’m afraid that a war on government might make government even more powerful and far reaching. I guess the only way really IS to feed the leviathan until it bursts!