Understanding Obama’s "War on Drugs"

 Last month I was interviewed on CNN.com as part of the network’s coverage of the 40^th anniversary of President Richard Nixon declaring the “war on drugs.” It was just one of thousands of articles, broadcasts and blog posts featuring the voices of police officers, politicians and scholars marking an anniversary that offers little to celebrate. Many commentators across the political spectrum eagerly welcomed the opportunity to seriously examine the failures of our drug policies, evaluate possible reforms and opine on what it all might mean.

But not everyone was as excited by the opportunity for reflection on how we can make drug policy more effective. After reading my interview on CNN.com, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy apparently contacted the news organization and demanded equal time to defend the Obama administration’s continuation of U.S. drug prohibition policies.

The published response presents a rare and revealing window into the thinking behind the nation’s drug policy at the beginning of the fifth decade of the “war on drugs.” The transcript is of great interest to anyone who wants to understand why -- despite clear scientific evidence, real-world experience and political opportunity -- a policy that is so obviously failed and is so profoundly harmful is able to continue year after year.

Written by Rafael Lemaitre, a public affairs staffer in the drug czar’s office, the interview answers obfuscate important facts and completely avoid many of the most important issues in the debate about drug policy. 

With polished clarity, Lemaitre spells out a worldview and political intent based on three key (false) ideas:

* We are making great strides against drug abuse.

* The “war on drugs” is permanent, and any alternative to it means anarchy.

* The only goal of real importance in drug policy is to reduce the number of drug users.

Is the “War on Drugs” Working?

As proof that we are making “tremendous progress,” Lemaitre clings to the fact that that cocaine production in one country – Colombia – has dropped over the past decade according to some metrics and that drug use in the U.S. is now lower in some categories and demographics than it was during the raucous 1970’s. 

First of all, the fact that cocaine production in Colombia seems to be falling isn’t really a sign of success in light of the fact that U.S.-backed eradication efforts – to the extent they have “worked” – have only really succeeded in pushing production of the drug into neighboring Peru, where coca growing has risen every year for the past five years.

And when it comes to drug use in the U.S., the truth is that use rates have continually fluctuated over the years and decades. The fact that drug use today is down in some categories compared to 1979 isn’t all that meaningful when you consider, for example, that the percentage of 12^th graders who regularly use illegal drugs has sharply increased over the past two decades. 

Now, compare this to the historic across-the-board reduction we’ve seen in tobacco use over the past few decades. To achieve this, we haven’t had to knock down any doors with SWAT teams, sentence anyone to decades in prison under harsh mandatory minimum sentences or strip anyone of their right to vote or to receive government benefits. Instead, a long-term and diverse educational campaign, in which government and industry have collaborated, has defined nicotine addiction as a health issue and has helped many Americans quit smoking without the threat of the criminal justice system.