Wrong Answer to Drug Abuse

Re “Q & A” with Orange County Superior Court Judge David T. McEachen, Aug. 9:

The intransigence of people, especially government officials like McEachen, is exactly the reason why our failed war on drugs will continue unabated. McEachen’s response to why he opposes legalization is that he sees the “crisis state” of the “addicts.” This sort of reasoning is specious.

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s 1995 National Drug Control Strategy, only 20% of drug users are chronic, hard-core users, such as those described by McEachen, and these users account for “the bulk” of illicit drug consumption.

This means that the other 80% of drug users are normal, healthy, productive members of society. By McEachen’s own admission, incarceration and punitive measures do not work in deterring drug use. Treatment and education are the best alternatives to help people with drug problems. While his “drug courts” are commendable, they are by no means the only way of providing treatment. People will seek help and treatment if it is readily available without threat of punitive actions. It is not imperative to arrest and punish the other 80% of drug users to provide such treatment.

Obviously, drug abuse is injurious, but abuse is the exception, not the rule, and we must distinguish drug abuse from drug use. The problems of addicts do not comprise a legitimate reason to deny others the freedom to do with their body as they please. Why must we continue to punish otherwise law-abiding citizens for their heinous crime of exercising their liberty and freedom to do what they want with their own body? The time has come to reexamine our policies regarding drug use.

MICHAEL MANDEL

Huntington Beach