Pubdate: Mon, 11 Dec 2000
Source: Forbes Magazine (US)
Copyright: 2000 Forbes Inc.
Contact:  28 West 23rd Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10010
Fax: (917) 606-7262
Website: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/current/
Author: Dyan Machan, Forbes Magazine,

FORGET THE CHAMPAGNE

You might think Joseph A. Califano jr. would be gloating these days about 
the drug problem. Califano, 69, is the former Carter cabinet member who is 
now arguably the number one authority on drugs, not to mention the most 
quoted. The number of Americans using illicit drugs is down 41% since 1979. 
Marijuana use among teens is finally leveling off. Drug-related crime? Way 
down. The fact that we heard virtually nothing about drugs during the 
presidential campaign means we must not have a problem.

Time to break out the champagne and celebrate? Not for Califano, who wants 
sandwiches in his New York office and has plenty to be glum about. He is 
quick with depressing statistics. A 1998 study found that of the nation's 
1.7 million prisoners, 80% are there due to alcohol- or drug-related 
crimes. Of these, 1.2 million are substance abusers, and most are not 
getting treatment. Most are going to be released someday.

And yes, while teen drug use may have peaked, 55% of high school seniors 
have tried an illicit drug, says Califano in his jet-engine voice, left 
over from his early days in Brooklyn when he smoked a pack a day himself.

So Califano has made it clear he absolutely isn't ready to back away from 
the war on drugs. His platform is the National Center on Addiction and 
Substance Abuse at Columbia University, known as Casa. He founded it eight 
years ago. Through its well-regarded studies and advocacy, the center now 
steers a lot of the national debate on drugs. Califano's celebrity, as it 
were, is no small factor, either, in the center's influence. Califano made 
tobacco public enemy number one in 1978 when he was secretary of Health, 
Education and Welfare under Jimmy Carter (he was later fired for 
insubordination). The old HEW seal still glares down from a wall behind his 
head.

If you were to look at the situation cynically, it doesn't help Califano or 
his center to declare the drug problem under control. The center, with its 
$14.5 million annual budget, is brought to us via grants from foundations, 
the government and corporations; all of which might contemplate diverting 
their money elsewhere if they perceived drugs were no longer a major problem.

So one of Califano's challenges these days is getting people whipped up 
about drugs. The subject certainly wasn't much discussed during the 
presidential election.

"It was a stealth issue in the campaign," says Califano. When both 
candidates were yabbering on about Social Security surplus, he recalls, 
neither talked about how that surplus could be dramatically increased by 
addressing the costs associated with diseases caused by smoking and alcohol 
abuse. "And any President who is going to deal with welfare reform, 
education, public housing and criminal justice is going to have to deal 
with substance abuse," he fumes. Instead of posing with children, why 
didn't either candidate consider doing something for them, like giving them 
a drug-free school?

At the risk of really antagonizing Califano we ask him about 
decriminalizing marijuana, a drug many feel is not much worse than alcohol. 
Couldn't we save some big chunk of the $19 billion the U.S. is spending 
this year on the war on drugs? We could cut out crop eradication and 
interdiction, which we know don't work. We could save on all the drug bust 
and sting operations that inspire exciting TV but are expensive in real 
life. The money saved and the taxes collected could be funneled into drug 
treatment.

"Legalizing drugs would be catastrophic, a disaster!" he says, more with 
exasperation than the biblical thunder for which he is known. "Why? Because 
it would be more available to children." Kids would be particularly 
vulnerable, he explains, "because it wouldn't be the neighborhood guy 
selling it, it would be Philip Morris, with a big ad budget," he says, 
waving the remains of his sandwich: "If you are selling addiction, you need 
two things: an addictive substance and kids. The tobacco companies would be 
out of business if they didn't get people addicted before 21."

"Do you get many donations from Philip Morris?" I ask. He laughs politely. 
Still, we can't help noting that 72 million Americans have used marijuana 
and most haven't moved on to mainlining. What does our drugbuster say about 
that? Furrowing his brow, Califano is perhaps wondering if this lunch was a 
good idea. He barks to his secretary: "Get me the Gateway study."

We spread out the colorful bar charts on the table. Califano explains the 
data is adjusted for adolescents with eating disorders, poor academic 
performance, suicide attempts, drunken driving, violent actions and 
promiscuous sexual behavior because not doing so would distort the results. 
(I wondered how they found enough kids to study.) Among these teenagers, 
Califano says, those who have used cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana at 
least once in the past month are more than 16 times likelier to use another 
drug like cocaine and heroin, which are far more addictive.

Even so, is it drugs that give addicts a habit or do addicts make a habit 
of drugs? A deep sigh from our drug foe: "Yes, there is some genetic 
explanation," Califano says. "Children of alcoholics have a higher chance 
of becoming alcoholics. But here is the simple fact: We are 5% of the 
world's population and consume 50% of the cocaine. That's not a comment on 
genetics, but a comment on American society. The more you make drugs 
available, the more people will get hurt. Why make it more certain children 
will screw up their lives?"

Califano continues with more good sense: "Parents have much more power than 
they realize. It's not a matter of telling children not to use drugs, but a 
matter of being more involved in their lives. Parents raise hell about 
asbestos but not about drugs in the school. Half the high school teachers 
think kids can smoke marijuana every weekend and do fine."

He asks his secretary to get him one of the most recent of his constant 
stream of editorials. In it, Califano writes that the center has proven 
what people just suspected: Pot savages short-term memory, flattens 
ambition and, despite popular opinion, is addictive.

Ending our conversation on an appropriately depressing note, Califano 
quotes some final statistics: While illegal drug use has leveled off among 
youth, usage is still way ahead of what it was in 1989.

Lunch is a long time over; the campaign, which ignored the problem, is 
over, but the war on drugs is not. Our new President can assume that 
shortly after noon on Jan. 20, he'll be hearing from Califano.
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