Pubdate: Tue, 22 Mar 2016 Source: Buffalo News (NY) Copyright: 2016 The Buffalo News Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/GXIzebQL Website: http://www.buffalonews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/61 Author: Frank Austin WE NEED A NEW APPROACH TO FOOLISH ' WAR ON DRUGS' Slowly we are coming to realize the foolishness of our national "war on drugs" policy and that there is a more effective way to deal with the issue. Erie County's recent efforts to deal with the heroin issue are significant. Putting people in jail and demonizing drug usage has only allowed criminals to make billions of dollars and increase violence in our country. In his book, "Chasing the Scream," Johann Hari laid out some alternatives to our current policies. Switzerland, Canada and Portugal are just a few of the countries trying to establish policies that have not only decreased gun violence but decreased drug addiction. Sadly, in America, Republicans' and Democrats' insistence to punish, rather than heal, people has led to organized crime controlling drugs and poisoning people; a handful of wealthy individuals creating private prison systems; and an attack on Second Amendment freedoms. Hopefully, we are smarter than the wealthy and foolish "dark money" interests who try to control and ruin our democracy. Frank Austin Orchard Park - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom