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Recent Comments on the War on Drugs

Extracts from a variety of recent books and publications regarding the war on drugs.


Abram, K. M. & Teplin, L. A. (1991 October). Co-occurring disorders among mentally ill jail detainees: Implications for public policy. American Psychologist, 46 1036-1045.

SAGE Criminal Justice System Annuals. "...focus on and develop topics and themes that are important to the study of criminal justice. Each edited volume combines multiple perspectives to provide an interdisciplinary approach that is useful to students, researchers, and policymakers."

DRUG TREATMENT AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE - (Sage criminal justice system annuals; v.27) - James A. Inciardi, Editor - Sage Publications (1993); Newbury Park, California.

Inciardi, J. A. (1993). Introduction: A response to the war on drugs. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), Drug treatment and criminal justice (pp. 1-4). Newbury Park: Sage Publications, Inc.

Wellisch, J., Anglin, M. D., & Prendergast, M. L. (1993). Treatment strategies for drug-abusing women offenders. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), Drug treatment and criminal justice (pp. 5-29). Newbury Park: Sage Publications, Inc.

Pan, H., Scarpitti, F. R., Inciardi, J. A., & Lockwood, D. (1993). Some considerations on therapeutic communities in corrections. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), Drug treatment and criminal justice (pp. 30-43). Newbury Park: Sage Publications, Inc.

Peters, R. H. (1993). Drug treatment in jails and detention settings. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), Drug treatment and criminal justice (pp. 44-80). Newbury Park: Sage Publications, Inc.

Martin, S. S. & Inciardi, J. A. (1993). Case management approaches for criminal justice clients. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), Drug treatment and criminal justice (pp. 81-96). Newbury Park: Sage Publications, Inc.

Dembo, R., Williams, L., & Schmeidler, J. (1993). Addressing the problems of substance abuse in juvenile corrections. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), Drug treatment and criminal justice (pp. 97-126). Newbury Park: Sage Publications, Inc.

Swartz, J. (1993). TASC--The next 20 years: Extending, refining, and assessing the model. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), Drug treatment and criminal justice (pp. 127-148). Newbury Park: Sage Publications, Inc.

THE WAR ON DRUGS: HEROIN, COCAINE, CRIME, AND PUBLIC POLICY

Inciardi, J. A. (1986). The war on drugs: Heroin, cocaine, crime, and public policy. Palo Alto: Mayfield Publishing Company.

Its poison breath is living death Beyond the pale of hope,

And in the blight of endless night Its countless victims grope.

In stricken homes the reptile roams On hearthstones bare and bleak.

Ambition dies in youthful eyes, Slain by the noxious reek.

For Dope is strong and prospers long Because the laws are weak" (Inciardi, 1986, p. 20).

For 40 years the United States has tried in vain to control the problem of drug addiction by prohibition and police suppression. The disastrous consequences of turning over to the police what is an essentially medical problem are steadily becoming more apparent as narcotic arrests rise each year to new records and the habit continues to spread, especially among young persons. Control by prohibition has failed; but the proposed remedies for this failure consist mainly of more of the same measures which have already proved futile.

Inciardi (1986, pp.204-206) lumps these social scientists together and dismisses them as "armchair crusaders who had little direct contact with life in the street worlds of heroin, cocaine, and crime [who]....suggest that federal drug policies are simply an outgrowth of the government's practiced benign stupidity."

...the heroin traffic from Southeast Asia, especially from the Golden Triangle of northern Thailand, Burma, and Laos, expanded production as a new source of heroin for the incredibly lucrative American market....It is not known whether this new heroin source was linked to Republican politicians, but the fact that the CIA and the South Vietnamese governments under general Ky and Thieu actively aided the development of this heroin source suggests that such a link is not beyond the realm of possibility.

Inciardi (1986, p. 205) scoffs at the translation of "this into the 'private accumulation of capital and profit'" argument but does accept the conclusion of Alfred W. McCoy in The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia "that the heroin trade in Southeast Asia grew to some extent with the complicity of the U.S. government representatives in that part of the world...[due to] American anticommunist zeal."

DRUGS AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: Volume II. Sage Criminal Justice System Annuals. J. A. Inciardi & C. D. Chambers (Eds.). 1974.

King, R. (1974). "The American system": Legal sanctions to repress drug abuse. In J. A. Inciardi & C. D. Chambers (Eds.), Drugs and the criminal justice system (pp. 17-38). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc.

"a comparative study of federal and state laws" and "an evaluation of the effectiveness of current enforcement policies". The Bureau of Narcotics threw a fit and attacked with 'comments' on the recommendations and interference with the project's funding (King, 1974, 28).

Glaser, D. (1974). Interlocking dualities in drug use, drug control, and crime. In J. A. Inciardi & C. D. Chambers (Eds.), Drugs and the criminal justice system (pp. 39-56). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc.

Gould, L. C. (1974). Crime and the addict: Beyond common sense. In J. A. Inciardi & C. D. Chambers (Eds.), Drugs and the criminal justice system (pp. 57-76). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc.

McGlothlin, W. H. & Tabbush, V. C. (1974). Costs, benefits, and potential for alternative approaches to opiate addiction control. In J. A. Inciardi & C. D. Chambers (Eds.), Drugs and the criminal justice system (pp. 77-124). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc.

Meiselas, H. & Brill, L. (1974). The role of civil commitment in multimodality programming. In J. A. Inciardi & C. D. Chambers (Eds.), Drugs and the criminal justice system (pp. 171-182). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc.

Greenberg, S. M. (1974). Compounding a felony: Drug abuse and the American legal system. In J. A. Inciardi & C. D. Chambers (Eds.), Drugs and the criminal justice system (pp. 183-202). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc.

And then ask yourself--if the truth is not too painful--whether any evil aliens or sinister plots could have succeeded in impairing our national welfare as totally as we have done through our frenzied efforts to react to a phenomenon that we never really attempted to understand. Try and recall the period in our history when people first began to realize that drugs were going to be a white middle-class problem in the United States, and consequently decided to do something about it. Look back on all the legislation, all the drug education programs, all the legal and illegal police activities, and yes, even all the National Football League public service announcements on drug abuse. Are we any closer now to what we wanted to accomplish back in 1964 in terms of keeping drug abuse within 'acceptable' limits? If we could be magically transported back to those fateful years of the 1960s and be given a chance to do the whole thing over again, and then if we deliberately attempted to create the drug problem, could we, even with the benefit of hindsight, be more successful at throwing our country into crisis?

It is time to face the fact that after several frantic, heartbreaking years of reaction and overreaction to drug usage, we have accomplished virtually nothing--nothing except the exposure of our legal system as an inept, sometimes oppressive and corrupt instrument for the enforcement of public and private morality. We have not curbed drug abuse...we haven't even slowed it. What we have done is to further alienate an entire generation of our children, already alienated by the reality they perceive around them.

...Had the Vietnam war ended in 1965 or 1966, would the 'passive' 1950s have erupted into the massive disruptions and violence of the 1960s? If the nation had reacted to the shame of watching an overtly racist social system enforce its values by utilizing firehoses, clubs, guns, bayonets, and vicious dogs to subdue non-violent school children, and committed itself on a long-term basis to establishing real equality for blacks, would our children have turned away from their television sets in fear and disgust and taken to the streets? An finally, if we had reacted with acceptance, or even paternalistic amusement to long hair, bare feet, unorthodox dress, and the conception of a new type of brotherhood for our country, instead of with disgust, envy, hatred, fear and violence--if we had taken the flower that was offered instead of slapping the bearers' hands away--could we not have kept our children, instead of driving them away?" (Greenberg, 1974, pp. 183-184).

THE DRUGS CRIME CONNECTION: Volume 5. Sage Annual Reviews of Drug and Alcohol Abuse - James A. Inciardi, Editor. 1981.

Inciardi, J. A. (1981). Drug use and criminal behavior: Major research issues. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), The drugs-crime connection (pp. 7-16). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc.

Clayton, R. R. (1981). Federal drugs-crime research: Setting the agenda. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), The drugs-crime connection (pp.17-38). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc.

Ball, J. C., Rosen, L, Flueck, J. A., & Nurco, D. N. (1981). The criminality of heroin addicts: When addicted and when off opiates. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), The drugs-crime connection (pp.39-66). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc.

Goldstein, P. J. (1981). Getting over: Economic alternatives to predatory crime among street drug users. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), The drugs-crime connection (pp.67-84). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc.

Datesman, S. K. (1981). Women, crime, and drugs. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), The drugs/crime connection (pp. 85-104). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc.

McBride, D. C. (1981). Drugs and violence. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), The drugs-crime connection (pp.105-124). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc.

Goldman, F. (1981). Drug abuse, crime, and economics: The dismal limits of social choice. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), The drugs-crime connection (pp.155-181). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc.

THE DETROIT NEWS - Sowell, T., 1989, October 2.

Sowell, T. (1989, October 2). Bush's war on drugs another Vietnam? The Detroit News.

THE MYTHOLOGY OF CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Kappeler, V. E., Blumberg, M., & Potter, G. W. (1993). The mythology of crime and criminal justice. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, Inc.

POLICING AMERICAN SOCIETY

LaGrange, R. L. (1993). Policing American Society. Chicago: Nelson-Hall Inc.

HUMAN RIGHTS READER

Bentham, J. (1990). Principles of legislation. In W. Laqueur & B. Rubin (Eds.) The Human Rights Reader (Rev. ed., pp. 85-86). New York: Meridian, Penguin Books USA Inc.

It is with government, as with medicine. They have both but a choice of evils. Every law is an evil, for every law is an infraction of liberty: And I repeat that government has but a choice of evils: In making this choice, what ought to be the object of the legislator? He ought to assure himself of two things; 1st, that in every case, the incidents which he tries to prevent are really evils; and 2ndly, that if evils, they are greater than those which he employs to prevent them. There are then two things to be regarded; the evil of the offense and the evil of the law; the evil of the malady and the evil of the remedy.

Eg: The operation was a success but the patient died.

Kenworthy, T. (1988, September 19). House's tough antidrug bill called war on bill of rights: Measure would transform the legal system. Washington Post, pp. A1+.

Musial, R. (1989, September 20). First traffic check lanes set up. The Detroit Free Press, pp. 3A, 19A).

Brain's addiction mechanism found. (1994, September 13). USA Today, p. 7D).

Wisotsky, S. (1990). Beyond the war on drugs: Overcoming a failed public policy. Buffalo: Prometheus Books.

Szasz, T. (1990). Foreword. In S. Wisotsky Beyond the war on drugs: Overcoming a failed public policy. Buffalo: Prometheus Books.

Adler, P. A. (1993). Wheeling and dealing: An ethnography of an upper-level drug dealing and smuggling community. (2nd ed.) New York: Columbia University Press.

Scullum, J. (1991). Secondary Smoke is not harmful to nonsmokers. In D. L. Bender & B. Leone (Series Eds.) & C. P. Cozic & K. Swisher (Book Eds.), Chemical dependency: Opposing viewpoints, (pp. 72-78). San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc.

D'Amato, B. (1992). The doctor, the murder, the mystery: The true story of the Dr. John Branion murder case. Chicago: The Noble Press, Inc.

Bender, D. L. (1991). Why consider opposing viewpoints? In D. L. Bender & B. Leone (Series Eds.) & C. P. Cozic & K. Swisher (Book Eds.), Chemical dependency: Opposing viewpoints, (pp. 9-11). San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc.

Nakken, C. (1991). An addictive personality may cause chemical dependency. In D. L. Bender & B. Leone (Series Eds.) & C. P. Cozic & K. Swisher (Book Eds.), Chemical dependency: Opposing viewpoints, (pp. 30-37). San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc.

In addition, there is an almost constant internal conflict between the Self and the Addict. In this struggle, the Addict wins. This is what is meant by "loss of control." The longer the struggle, the more control the addictive personality gains and establishes. Each time the Self struggles against the addiction, the Addict becomes stronger. To fight and struggle against something that has more power than you drains your energy. For each defeat there is some loss of self-esteem...

...In addiction, the Addict becomes the dominant personality.

People and family members often desperately ask themselves and others, 'Why does he act like this? Doesn't he care about us anymore?' The truth is that the Addict within doesn't care about them. What it cares about is acting out, getting the mood change. The Addict doesn't care about the Self either. A statement such as, 'At least if you won't stop for me, stop for yourself!' falls on deaf ears. The person who suffers from an addiction often asks the same question long before anyone else: 'Why do I act this way? Don't I care?'

It's often a great relief for people suffering from an addiction to realize that they are not 'bad people', as they believed, that their addictive personality is not all of them, but only a part of them, having grown as a result of the illness" (Nakken, 1991, pp. 36-37).

Peele, S. (1991). Personal choice causes cocaine addiction. In D. L. Bender & B. Leone (Series Eds.) & C. P. Cozic & K. Swisher (Book Eds.), Chemical dependency: Opposing viewpoints, (pp. 38-44). San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc.

Why didn't most of these people become cocaine addicts? The answer is so simple that we are left wondering why scientists can't figure it out: Most people have better things to do than to become addicted to cocaine" (Peele, 1991, p. 42).

Oakley, R., Ph. D., & Ksir, C., Ph. D. (1987). Drugs, Society and Human Behavior. St. Louis, Missouri: Times Mirror/Mosby College Publishing.

Cantor, G. (1989, October 2). Smoking crack differs from drinking a beer. The Detroit News, p. B3.

Monson, M. C. (1980, November). The dirty little secret behind our drug laws. Reason. Reprinted in Drugs, Volume 3. (Boca Raton, Fla: Social Issues Resources Series, Inc., 1980), Article No. 19.

Hyde, M. O. (1990). Drug wars. New York: Walker and Company.

Berger, G. (1989). Violence and drugs. New York: Franklin Watts.


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