The War on Drugs ~ Lost a Long time Ago !

The War on Drugs , We`re Fighting the Right War, The Wrong Way...

By: Anonymous. I could have written this, but I did`nt !

Don Jones = Underdog

As it is, there is very little real treatment available in this country. The little treatment for addiction that insurance companies will authorize is pitiful. Those who get treatment are usually users who have committed a criminal offense...society has criminalized it's concept of addiction, and this is a sad fact. I believe we could wipe out the "drug problem" with one easy weapon...Treatment. If we treated addicts and alcoholics the way we treat cancer we would be way ahead of the game. One part of me wants to defend users of medical marijuana, but I've treated far too many "pot heads" who used this as a scam to be high most of the time. We need a total revamping of how we look at alcohol and drugs. We need to treat people with a disease. And....in some cases even the medical use of any substance would be counter indicative of a transplant. Would you transplant someone who was addicted to opioid pain killers ? On top of all of this is the fact we know insurance companies will look for any reason to not provide treatment, especially if it is an expensive one. No easy answers, lots of problems and it isn't going away any time soon. In my opinion, we lost the "War on Drugs" a long time ago...we should raise the white flag and start treating people who need treatment.

Editorial : I have been saying this for a very longtime now ! Alas, No one seems to listen ! We will never win a war on drugs, using the tactics we are at present.

Response from : Martin TN. Chief of Police

Criminalizing addiction and decriminalizing illicit drugs aren’t mutually inclusive in my opinion. I have sympathy for those who addicted to drugs commit criminal offenses to support their addiction. Like so many other arguments in our country today, facts are twisted to fit a political stance. More times than not, the criminals we deal with are criminals first and drug addicts second and that my friend is a fact based on twenty years of work in the field and hundreds of interviews and thousands of excuses. There are however, occasionally, drug addicted persons who, minus the impetus of drugs in their lives, could and probably would be productive citizens. My problem with your hypothesis is that it fails to separate the chaff from the wheat. I obviously feel very strongly about harsh penalties for drug offenses but make no mistake, my focus as is that of most of my piers is not that of punishment for the addict but rather punishment for those who prey on addiction by profiting from it. That is the drug dealer. The person who makes money on the addict. This is not a war we can concede whether we are winning or not! That also includes doctors who freely dispense prescription drugs with little or no evaluation as to need or purpose. Again, a drug dealer. Just one with letters behind his or her name.

David Moore, Chief of Police
Martin Tennessee Police Department
101 University St./ P.O. Box 9
Martin, Tennessee 38237
ph. (731) 587-5355 x236
fax (731) 587-5183
dbmoore@martindps.org