Pubdate: Tue, 06 Mar 2001 Source: Daily Orange, The (US NY Edu) Copyright: 2001 The Daily Orange Corporation Contact: 744 Ostrom Ave., Syracuse, NY 13210 Fax: (315) 443-9177 Website: http://www.dailyorange.com/ (inactive) Author: Nick Anthony, Daily Orange, Syracuse U. SYRACUSE SPEAKERS FACE OFF ON NATION'S DRUG WAR SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The United States is far from winning the ongoing war against drugs, said retired U.S. Ambassador Melvyn Levitsky. But Mike Roona, a former Syracuse University professor, said he was pleased with the progress. "The war on drugs does not mean the war against drug addicts," said Levitsky, who is also an SU professor of international relations and public administration. "To clarify, it is the war on the drug problem. We need to be flexible in terms of seeing solution." Levitsky and Roona debated Monday in Maxwell Auditorium. Levitsky said he favors zero tolerance for drug users. Roona, executive director of the Social Capital Development Corporation, said he favors a more approachable solution to the drug war. Society has determined that drugs should be prohibited or used only for medicinal purposes, Levitsky said. But only when scientific evidence for their use is available, he added. Methods for drug rehabilitation have also proven unsuccessful in recent years, Levitsky said. "If addicts are trying to get clean, society is paying for them," Levitsky said. "Therefore, there needs to be a better rate of success." Levitsky said he worked in various countries that supply large quantities of illegal drugs, including China. Based on his experience, Levitsky said he came to the conclusion that there needs to be a strong supply reduction program in order to win the war. The fewer drugs there are, prices will rise and there will be less demand, he added. It is the government's responsibility to take a strong role in reducing drug use, Levitsky said. "The Clinton administration ignored the situation for too long," he said of former President Bill Clinton's eight-year span in office. Drug-Free Country Prohibition of drugs is closely linked to racism, paranoia and sexually-related violence, Roona said. When the Transcontinental Railroad was being built in the late 19th century, the United States imported a large number of Chinese people to help with the labor, Roona said. Upon completion of the railroad, it had a surplus of unemployable Chinese workers. This event is closely linked with the prohibition of opium because Americans feared Chinese would get white women high on opium and take advantage of them sexually, Roona said. "For a period of 26 years," Roona said. "We weren't particularly concerned with the increases of opium. We were concerned about Chinese people smoking opium. We were concerned about white Americans smoking opium." An example like this shows that race was important in the prohibition of drugs, Roona said. He supported the scientific claim that marijuana is a "gateway drug" and usually facilitates other drug use, including heroin and ecstasy. The more money the government spends on anti-drug campaigns directly correlates to an increase in drug use, Roona said. "The more money spent on the war against drugs, the more likely people are going to die," Roona added. A possible solution to the rise of drug use among teenagers is to have a probation officer "deal" drugs to teenage users. In order for the teen to receive the drug, Roona said the teenager would have to come to the officer and explain why he needed that particular drug. Roona said this solution would allow the drug officer to reach teenage drug users, to counsel them and to possibly convince them to use an alternative, less harmful drug. This process commonly takes place in Germany and Switzerland and serves as a model to other countries trying to defeat the drug war, Roona said. Levitsky said he was not satisfied by Roona's idea, and two SU students agreed. Sophomore Michele Pecce said Roona's plan for eliminating drug use is not feasible at the college level. "Obviously, a person would not be willing to give the drugs out that easily," said Pecce, a marketing and entrepreneurship major. "It wouldn't be that effective." Teenagers would find some way to elude the process, Pecce added. Sophomore Carol Bustros agreed that Roona's plan was not viable in reality. "They can get the drugs they want with less hassle from normal drug users," said Bustros, a marketing major. "There will always be kids getting drugs illegally. They are not going to go to some officer. There are too many drug users out there for them to bother going to some officer." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake