Widen the War on Drugs, Study Urges

The only solution to combatting drug abuse in San Diego is a “community-wide, balanced approach” that would include the participation of educators, law enforcement, the medical community, business and the media, a task force reported to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Staffers and volunteers from the 100-member Drug Abuse Free San Diego Strike Force suggested that no single element would prove successful in the fight against drug abuse.

Nine months in the making, the report offered 36 recommendations that included screening jail inmates for drug use, creating a telephone hot line for drug abusers and providing anti-drug-abuse services for senior citizens, American Indians and Asians.

The supervisors, who approved the recommendations, did not act on the report Tuesday. Instead, they questioned members of the strike force and voiced their own concerns about drug abuse. Supervisor Susan Golding asked that the county’s administrative officer review the specific recommendations and determine the costs of implementing them.

The supervisors are scheduled to discuss the report again March 10.