Pubdate: Sat, 26 Mar 2016
Source: New Mexican, The (Santa Fe, NM)
Copyright: 2016 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.santafenewmexican.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/695
Authors: Lisa Marie Pane and Emily Swanson, The Associated Press

POLL FINDS MOST AMERICANS SEE DRUG ABUSE AS BIG PROBLEM

Sharon Johnson calls herself an addict, although she's been sober for 
three years now. She started by smoking pot and eventually moved to 
crack cocaine. Her daughter has tried heroin and "I believe I'm going 
to pull her out of the gutter someday," Johnson laments.

Johnson has seen firsthand the ravages of drug abuse reflected in a 
national Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research 
poll. Whether it's alcohol or illegal drugs such as heroin and 
cocaine, a majority of Americans say it's a problem and that more 
needs to be done to address it.

Johnson, 56, of Lynn, Mass., said she doesn't believe any drug should 
be legalized and believes more needs to be done to crack down on 
dealers. She goes to Narcotics Anonymous meetings every Thursday and 
sees too many of her companions there relapsing and dying from drug 
use. Still, she considers treatment the best option for users rather 
than prosecution.

"To lock someone up for using, it's not going to solve anything. 
They're going to rebel," Johnson, a poll respondent, told the AP in a 
follow-up interview. "For dealers, in my eyes, they should be locked up."

The poll found that most Americans - 62 percent - said that at least 
one type of substance use was a serious problem in their communities. 
That included alcohol, marijuana, heroin, cocaine, meth and 
prescription pills. Some 43 percent said they have a relative or 
close friend with substance abuse issues. Seven in 10 Americans 
believe not enough is being done to find better addiction treatment 
or to make treatment programs more accessible in their communities.

And, like Johnson, most prioritized punishment for drug dealers 
rather than cracking down on users. It was a long road for Johnson to 
get clean. She bounced from couch to couch because she couldn't pay 
the rent. She's estranged from her sister after going on a binge and 
not returning a debit card her sister lent her.

"Before I got locked up, my probation officer told me, 'Sharon, 
you're going to end up dead,' " Johnson said. "I was in denial a long 
time, and one day I did a complete turnaround."

Johnson spent six months in treatment as part of Project COPE, an 
outpatient substance abuse treatment program. She's now on disability 
and hopes to complete her education. She spends time with her 
grandchildren. Lynn, a city of 90,000 north of Boston, has 
experienced one of the state's highest rates of deaths from heroin.

Johnson's story captures much of what the AP-NORC survey described: A 
feeling that drugs are a pervasive problem, with many seeing friends 
or relatives ravaged by drugs and believing that treatment options 
need to be improved for addicts while punishment needs to be fierce 
for dealers. While 61 percent of those surveyed said they support 
legalizing marijuana, most said they want it limited to medical 
treatment or want to impose restrictions on amounts that can be purchased.

Warren Lawler Chansky is a retired criminal defense lawyer who 
believes that as long as alcohol is legal, so should marijuana for 
recreational and medicinal uses.

"In all these years of practicing [law], I've seen awful crimes, 
tragedies. But very few associated with marijuana," said Chansky, 57, 
of Port St. Lucie, Florida.

He doesn't personally smoke but he had a family member who used 
marijuana to keep up her appetite while she was battling cancer.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom