Lest We Forget That Drug Crisis : Small signs of progress, but still lots to do

One year ago this week, President Bush addressed the nation about a crisis that nearly two out of three Americans put at the top of their list--drugs. Bush promised billions of new dollars to combat the scourge of crack cocaine and other addictions. Some things have worked, but the small signs of progress cannot mask the devastating toll illegal drugs continue to take in the inner cities.

On the anniversary of that speech, Bush was right to take a pause from the crisis in the Mideast to reaffirm his commitment to his Adminstration’s war on drugs. He should also note the remaining major problems as readily as he notes the several positive signs.

Casual drug use has dropped in the past year. Cocaine has become more difficult to find; it costs more and is far less pure. Hospital emergency rooms have been treating fewer patients for cocaine-related problems. There are other hopeful signs as well.

In New York, youngsters ridicule “crack-heads,” and recruitment of the next generation of users has fallen off sharply. That indicates a shift in public opinion, but it cannot mask the continuing misery. This misery is best alleviated by counseling and rehabilitation, but such help is in short supply from the Administration.

Drug addiction and hard-core use continue to trap as many as 2 million Americans, according to a report recently issued by a Senate committee. More people are dying; hospitals are reporting an increase in deaths linked to cocaine and heroin. More women are having drug-addicted babies.

In the crack-ravaged inner cities, there are other drug-related perils. A soaring homicide rate is expected to set records. As the violence escalates, the cops who work those streets are outmanned and often outgunned. Many are understandably angry.

Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates articulated some of that frustration earlier this week when he told a Senate committee that casual drug users “ought to be taken out and shot.” Gates was on the mark when he focused on the demand side of the drug equation, but his intemperate remarks only turned up the rhetoric in a battle that cannot be won by words.

Gates and other police chiefs have called for more law enforcement. But, like others who face the drug crisis up close, they have called, too, for more drug treatment. The resources should be divided evenly, not along the inadequate 70/30 split prescribed by the Bush Administration.

Treatment clearly reduces demand, but it works only if it is available. Waiting lists typically stretch for four months at the nonprofit, long-term programs that accept poor patients who are treated with public funds. At best, a mere fraction--only 20%--of the people who need treatment actually get it. That is not the best this nation can do.

President Bush is no doubt preoccupied with the gulf crisis and the threat of a recession at home. But America must be fit to deal with any crisis. That’s why the President must step up his commitment to eradicating drug use at all levels and for all people.