Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs From: [e--w] at [hip.atr.co.jp] (Eric Woudenberg) Subject: Senator D'Amato blasts the National Drug Control Strategy Date: Mon, 3 Apr 1995 10:49:09 GMT [This is a speech delivered in the US Senate on March 22. I retrieved it from the Thomas WWW site: http://thomas.loc.gov/] THE 1995 NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL STRATEGY (Senate - March 22, 1995) Sen. D'AMATO Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the subject of drugs . The Office of National Drug Control Policy [ONDCP] has now released its annual National Drug Control Strategy, dated February 1995. I regret that this strategy continues in the direction established in the 1994 strategy, a direction I strongly criticized at the time. The administration has produced another deeply flawed document that will not advance the war against drugs . In this document the administration outlines its priorities for dealing with illicit drugs . the document extols treatment and prevention as the primary tools in combating the drug problem. The strategy never addresses interdiction. It stresses policy changes to enhance the administration's demand side approach to dealing with the flood of foreign illegal drugs entering the United States, rather than enforcement efforts. The document is 150 pages long, with a 45 page long list of consultants. The strategy frequently contradicts itself from one chapter to the next in its interpretation of its findings, whether the findings were based on surveys or medical reports. This strategy provides an overinflated justification for expanded treatment and prevention efforts, without ever dealing with the underlying problem of the ease with which illegal drugs can be obtained. Furthermore, this document attempts to distinguish between the drug user and the drug dealer, claiming one is a public health problem while the other is a criminal. The truth of the matter is that both using and dealing are criminal violations and the dealer could not exist, much less profit, without the user. Drug dealers can only be arrested by working through drug users. Therefore, enforcement efforts against users should not be curtailed, but instead reinforced. Some of the contradictions contained within the report are serious. The report begins with a strategy overview which would lend the impression that enforcement was going to be a major theme in the strategy. This does not turn out to be the case. Under the section entitled `Principles for Responding to Illicit Drug Use', on page 10, the report states: `To ensure the safety of our communities, certainty of punishment must be promoted for all drug offenders--particularly young offenders. All offenders must receive appropriate punishment when they first encounter the criminal justice system.' This theme is further advanced on page 12, section entitled `Action Plans for Responding to America's Drug Problem' where it states `Use the authority of the criminal justice system to require drug -using offenders to stop taking drugs ; Punish the criminal activities of drug users and sellers.' This theme is immediately contradicted by a subsequent passage that states: `This Strategy recognizes that Americans make a distinction between drug dealers and drug users when stating how policies should be developed and carried out. Recent public opinion polls indicate that Americans believe that drug dealers deserve tough criminal sanctions and that drug users should have the opportunity for intensive treatment to break their dependence on drugs .' This directly contradicts the previous message of punishment for both users and dealers. This section further contradicts the need for strong enforcement action when it states: `The Action Plan for Reducing the Demand for Illicit Drugs emphasized drug prevention as the ultimate key to ensuring [sic] the future of the Nation's children.' While demand reduction is the ultimate key to victory in the war on drugs , this approach completely disregards the immediate problems of the availability of illicit drugs , the monetary rewards for dealing illegal drugs , and the constant flow of illegal drugs into the United States. furthermore, most drug dealers are also drug users. How are the courts to differentiate between the classes of criminals as described within this strategy? Law enforcement efforts and the criminal penalties for illegal drug activities directly affect drug availability, financial incentives for drug trafficking, and the flow of these illegal drugs . Once the supply is reduced, then treatment can be effective to further reduce demand.