Pubdate: Sat, 20 Sep 2014
Source: Stillwater News Press (OK)
Copyright: 2014 Stillwater News Press
Contact:  http://www.stwnewspress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/789
Author: Diane Dimond

DIANE DIMOND: TIME TO RE-THINK LEGALIZING DRUGS

Here's a riddle: How many knowledgeable people does it take to suggest a
policy change before society adopts their sage advice?
Buried in all the recent news about ISIS, horrific weather lashing the
United States, the violence of NFL players and the like, came a hardly
noticed news item about the idea of legalizing drugs.
Now, stay with me on this. It's important.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy, an illustrious panel including
former U.N. Secretary Gen. Kofi Annan, former U.S. Secretary of State
George Shultz, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Paul
Volcker, former presidents and prime ministers of nearly a dozen
countries and others issued a detailed study about why it's smart -
for reasons both humanitarian and financial - to legalize marijuana
and other drugs. Yes, all drugs.

Maybe it's time to consider their suggestion. After all, our
decades-long War on Drugs has been a miserable failure. Actions to
curb drug production and violence in other countries and along our
border have obviously not worked. Over the last 40 years, countless
billions of dollars have been spent trying to corral the scourge, and
the result is more drug addicts than ever before. Our prisons are
overflowing with dealers and addicts. Yet the supply and demand keeps
flowing and growing.

So how long do we keep doing what obviously doesn't work? The
Commission's study has several main recommendations and one guiding
goal: The "health and welfare of mankind," including widespread access
to essential medicines and pain control. The idea being, I surmise,
that patients in pain often graduate to the ranks of full-fledged
addicts. Help them early and they don't graduate.
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MAP posted-by: Matt