Pubdate: Thu, 17 Apr 2014
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2014 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/IuiAC7IZ
Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82
Author: Timothy M. Phelps

HEROIN DEATHS CHALLENGE HOLDER'S DRUG STANCE

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Eric Holder has been crusading for more
lenient treatment for nonviolent drug offenders, making it a top
priority before he is expected to leave office this year.

But recently, he has been forced to confront an epidemic of deaths
from heroin and prescription drug abuse, one that his opponents have
cited as a reason for not easing drug sentences.

In prepared remarks for a speech Wednesday to the Police Executive
Research Forum, Holder cited the "stunning rise in heroin and
prescription opiate overdose deaths" and insisted the Justice
Department is committed to "rigorous enforcement" of drug laws and
"robust treatment" of addicts.

In response to a question about the seeming lack of urgency nationally
on the heroin problem, Holder conceded "that this kind of sneaked up
on us," according to a recording of his speech.

He said heroin was considered mostly a regional problem until
recently, when statistics proved otherwise. "What I have tried to do
is use this office to talk about the issue, to bring attention to it,
to talk about it in terms of our budget," he said. An organization
representing a third of the assistant U.S. attorneys has opposed
legislation backed by Holder to slash mandatory minimum drug sentences.

And members of the Drug Enforcement Administration, from rank-and-file
agents to Administrator Michele Leonhart, have been critical of what
they see as Holder's and President Barack Obama's lenient policies
toward marijuana use.

Holder cited statistics to back his assertion that the department has
been effective, saying the DEA opened 4,500 investigations related to
heroin since 2011 and that the amount of heroin seized along the
southwest border increased dramatically from 2008 to 2013.

Experts say a nationwide crackdown on abuse of prescription
painkillers, such as Oxy-Contin, has led to a sharp increase in the
use of heroin, which is flooding into the country from Mexico and
Colombia, and is cheaper than pills.  
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