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High Society: U.S. drug policy a total failure, say users and experts

We don't just have a small problem here, we have a major war, bigger than all the wars going on in all the world right now!! The war on drugs are taking our youth by the thousands. This is an isolated story that is being reported, there are some who for medical reasons, use. We have kids that are using,not because they have cancer, they are using because they can, and they can get it anywhere anytime. And they are dying, and they are killing their brains. They are not capable of overcoming the use of hard core drugs on their own. And what are we doing??? It is all of us who have the problem whether or not, we know someone who is doing drugs, who has died, who is in our family, who is next door,who has been a victim of a drug related crime, we all know someone. The prisons and the jails are full. We are releasing kids & young adults that need help. We all need to wake up. We need intense drug rehabs, we need parents to wake up and parent, we need help, we need to pray we get help.

Expert - A has been under pressure. And of course drug users would say the drug policy is a failure. After all, anything they can say to get drugs legalized is a 'high' accomplishment.

Like anything else, people just want to avoid the issues they face so they do it by means of illegal escape.

You want to escape? Go to a movie. Go hiking. Go help someone worse off than you. Don't do things that ultimately harm society.

Two blocks from where I live lives a small family whos mom has been a meth addict all her married life and before. She has spent years in jail and prison too. The father has been a user and is also an alcholic. They have two sons, one who is now a teenager and another who is younger. I am sure they both know how to make meth. Now, these children are being isolated by their peers because they too are getting into trouble with the law, commiting other types of crimes. What are we to do? Soon, I suppose the kids will be users and trafficers too. What are we to do? It is all a sad story. The problem is epidemic.

I don't use illicit drugs because

1) I hear stories about users/dealers ruining the lives of themselves and others,

2) I don't want to hurt my mind or body with such drugs as cocaine (so psychologically addictive that users claim one time got them hooked), marijuana (which takes away many users' drive to succeed in work and school), meth or heroin (both of which ruins one's health and is so addictive that regular housewives will do anything, including prostitution, to feed the habit. Meth and heroin users both look worn out and ugly),

3) I don't want a felony on my record, which would highly restrict my ability to choose a career path and prevent me from legally owning guns,

4) I want the freedom of a life free of substance abuse. I watch shows and documentaries on people trying to kick a habit and realize they are so addicted either to drugs or to the "high" they bring that they have lost control of their life.

We lost the war on drugs when we stopped going after users and started concentrating on dealers. (continued)

When we used to prosecute drug users for drug use alone it was a great deterrent to others from trying drugs in the first place. What high schooler wanted to be kickded out of school, off the athletic team, put into jail and basically ostracized from society, for the short term pleasure of taking an illicit drug? Yes, there were some, but the idea of going to jail scared most kids witless. Now users are treated as victims of a disease, and look what it's got us -- not only more use of marijuana but also a plague of addictions to more damaging substances, such as heroin. Also, the only surefire way to get somebody to stop taking illegal drugs is to lock them in a place where they cannot acquire them. Thus, our efforts should not be to make sure our prisons and jails are drug free, whatever it takes, so that the inmates can break their addictions. Once that is accomplished, let them go, but they will suffer the consequences of being an ex-con.

Those of us who have avoided drug addiction want as little contact between users and our children as possible.

This is a sad commentary on our world today. But I would agree that drugs permeate every aspect of our society--both legitimate and clandestine drugs. We take a pill for everything--to lose weight, to dull pain, to give us energy, to keep from feeling sad.

Why should we be susrprised that there is such a drug abuse problem when we see drugs advertised on television all the time?

I would suspect drugs are the reason for most of our crime.

To:"Why We Lost War on Drugs"- prison time with a permanent felony record? For smoking a joint? When mom most likely gobbles prescription happy pills her doctor gives her to even greater effect? You're very naive, and if you think hard prison time improves the character of children you are very misinformed.

To Why We Lost War on Drugs:
You obivously know nothing about drug use and prison. You state, "the only surefire way to get somebody to stop taking illegal drugs is to lock them in a place where they cannot acquire them." Huh? You seriously have never heard of drug use in prison? Do you know how much it would cost to 100% prevent drug smuggling into prison.
You think that by prosecuting the user instead of the dealer, it will scare people straight. Do you know what an addiction is? You can not be scared away from an addiction to heroin. You need medical help and professional counseling.
Also, you state, "When we used to prosecute drug users for drug use alone it was a great deterrent to others from trying drugs in the first place. What high schooler wanted to be kickded out of school, off the athletic team, put into jail and basically ostracized from society, for the short term pleasure of taking an illicit drug?" We still kick kids off athletic teams and ostracize them through our communities, yet they still do it. Your point is moot.

Losing the war on drugs isn't just the illegal type. I see comments about the illegal drugs and that they should do jail time, what about prescription drugs and over the counter drugs that become addictive. I know of several people that have enormous problems from prescription drugs and the doctors frequently hand out the prescriptions in which they should be more cautious in doing so.

I grew up in a home, where my poor Mother was taking over 30 pills daily to cope with life, I swore I would take nothing more than an aspirin, if I needed anything. I have been able to get through life and do it... however out of my (5) children (4) were drug abusers...and it all started with marijuana. A couple of my kids were in serious accidents, which introduced oxycontin for pain relief, and from there to "staying high"...now I have (2) son in laws with the problem, and they all loathe themselves...I know that jail does not work, they come out worse for the wear because their self esteem, is lost, we need programs, to help them get back to living real life, with real jobs, any little victory, would propel them to belief in themselves again...Through all of it, I will not give up hope, but obviously the system we are trying to work with now IS BROKEN.

I have no idea what should be done. But I do know that our drug policy is not right when adults can use and abuse alcohol and prescription pills all they want and the addiction and ramifications to these drugs are often just as severe as meth, cocaine, speed, etc.

I believe we either need to criminalize ALL addictive drugs equally or decriminalize all personal use while focusing our resources on education, treatment, and criminalizing drug-related crimes rather than simply use. If an adult can drink themself silly in their own home why is it suddenly illegal to do the same with marijuanna? There are more addicted individuals and crimes committed through the abuse of alcohol than other drugs COMBINED. I don't know the answer, but there is very little reason and logic behind current drug policies.

Your statements are out of touch with the reality of drug use and addiction. Putting someone in jail doesn't cure addiction. All you do in jail is sit around but it doesn't solve the underlying issues of why a person is using.

An example to help you understand better why someone might use is this:

There was a woman who told me her adult daughter had been sexually abused by her father growing up. After hearing this I could see how this adult daughter that has never had any counseling was constantly on drugs or alcohol, I saw it as
an escape from the ugliness that she grew up with. I can understand why she numbs herself.

Also there are plenty of young athletes that get hurt and are started on prescriptive pain killers. Extremely addictive.

I am a former drug user but have not used drugs for almost four years and I thought then and still think today the only successful war on drugs is no war on drugs and the complete legalization and decriminalization of drugs in this country. We flip out when our tax dollars are being spent on the most minor things, health care, social security etc etc but do you have how much money in the trillions is being wasted on this never ending war...? Not just this war either, but overcrowded prisons that are filled with minor non violent drug offenses... its insane, it's madness. The best part of it all is that all these policies and increase in law enforcement hasn't even made a ripple in this never ending abyss. Incarceration does nothing, and our treatment programs are understaffed and underfunded doesn't anyone else see this major discrepency. Legalize drugs which takes the true criminals off the streets, the drug dealers and the drug lords. Increase drug rehab facilities and stop wasting these trillions of dollars a year on a war that will never end and you'll never win.

WAR ON DRUGS is a failure, and does nothing but make criminals out of people.

IT IS A COMPLETE WASTE OF OUR RESOURCES, look at how the Nazi State has progressed under the war on drugs. We spend way to much on "Law Enforcers", Judges, Court Houses, Jails, Prisons.

The laws were passed by elected officials that are Lawyers (they are in the industry) these laws benefit them.

Time to step back and invest in something productive.

Wow. Sometime you find the most amazing things in the unlikeliest of places. This article is one such thing. Way to go D-News!

Now can you get the editorial page to follow up with a call for an end to the WOD?

Substance abuse is a problem, but it's better described as the symptom of much deeper problems. In addiction to being a recovering alcoholic, I personally know thousands of alcoholics and addicts, and I never met one that became that way because they didn't see enough Public Service Announcements.

And contrary to popular belief, 28 days in rehab barely serves as a long enough time for detoxification, let alone unraveling the underlying issues of someone's drug or alcohol addiction.

For those with the genetic and environmental predisposition for addiction, the substance is merely the vehicle they use to medicate so that they feel better than the awful way they feel normally. And telling such a person to not medicate and just face life, is no more effective than telling someone with diarrhea to just use willpower.

What we are doing right now with social policy and with addiction treatment is comparable to treating a sick plant by polishing the leaves to make it look better. But the problem only shows up in the leaves, where it lives is deeper down, within the roots. And until we place our focus and our funds there, nothing will change.

Everyone wants to make generalizations about things they're not even educated about. I am bipolar and if I did not have access to prescription psychiatric drugs, I would be dead. I think all you do-gooders should worry about your own addictions. I'll bet you all have a few of your own like food, shopping, sex, anger, porn, etc. Do you want the government regulating your personal choices? Get your hypocritical noses out of other people's business. Crime is caused by personal choice, not prozac!!!

Being terminally ill is depressing, and when the safest, simplest, purest substance that makes life bearable is so misunderstood, or even worse, by the maliciously ignorant, I pray to the Lord, who placed this dignity saving substance on this earth, to return us back just one century...before the American Industrialists and Capitalists created interstate commerce laws that started this intractable war of brother against brother as well as daughter against mother...you poor children of the 80's and 90's...your brains have not only been washed, they have been dry-cleaned with Reaganistic blurbs, Clintonian hipocracy, and the Bush dynastic machine. Medical Marijuana advocates are not pushing heroin! Please! Where in the world does such a ridiculous argument arise from?

American's seem intent on re-inventing the wheel. How do other countries handle drug usage, and what is it about the U.S. that makes so many people into addicts? I would love to see different states take different, innovative approaches to drug use and abuse. We could then model a federal program on what works, not what we think should work.

I do know that there is a veritable industry surrounding incarceration. The privatization of prisons has created a huge lobby that promotes stiff penalties for minor drug offenses. This lobby does everything it can to promote the construction of more prisons and tough laws to keep them full.

The Democrats and the Republicans are not the solution to this problem. Their sales of their votes to the prison-industrial complex, including law enforcement agencies and the judiciary, have perpetuated the problem.

This is typical Deseret News to present a problem, but not offer a solution. Let's see if the moderator censors this comment too, because I will suggest an organization that can help end the failed war on drugs: the Drug Reform Coordination Network.