Is the Obama Administration starting a (too slow?) withdrawal in the war on drugs?

May 15, 2009

This article from the Wall Street Journal, headlined “White House Czar Calls for End to ‘War on Drugs’: Kerlikowske Says Analogy Is Counterproductive; Shift Aligns With Administration Preference for Treatment Over Incarceration,” provides some encouraging news for those who are eager for an end to the drug war. Here is how the piece begins:

The Obama administration’s new drug czar says he wants to banish the idea that the U.S. is fighting “a war on drugs,” a move that would underscore a shift favoring treatment over incarceration in trying to reduce illicit drug use.

In his first interview since being confirmed to head the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske said Wednesday the bellicose analogy was a barrier to dealing with the nation’s drug issues. “Regardless of how you try to explain to people it’s a ‘war on drugs’ or a ‘war on a product,’ people see a war as a war on them,” he said. “We’re not at war with people in this country.”

Mr. Kerlikowske’s comments are a signal that the Obama administration is set to follow a more moderate — and likely more controversial — stance on the nation’s drug problems. Prior administrations talked about pushing treatment and reducing demand while continuing to focus primarily on a tough criminal-justice approach.

The Obama administration is likely to deal with drugs as a matter of public health rather than criminal justice alone, with treatment’s role growing relative to incarceration, Mr. Kerlikowske said.

Valuably, Arianna Huffington has this potent follow-up commentary in which she stresses the need for the Obama Administration to walk as well as talk the talk in this arena. Her piece is titled “Ending the War on Drugs: The Moment is Now,” and here are excerpts:

[W]hen it comes to putting its rhetoric into action, the Obama administration has faltered.

Just a week after the Attorney General said there would be no more medical marijuana raids, the DEA raided a licensed medical marijuana dispensary in California. Obama’s ’09-’10 budget proposes to continue the longstanding ban on federal funding of needle exchange programs.

The current budget is still overwhelmingly skewed in favor of the drug war approach — indeed, it allocates more to drug enforcement and less to prevention than even George Bush did.

Testifying [Thursday] in front of the House Judiciary Committee, Holder, in his opening statement, called for a working group to examine federal cocaine sentencing policy: “Based on that review, we will determine what sentencing reforms are appropriate, including making recommendations to Congress on changes to crack and powder cocaine sentencing policy.” A working group? Why? As a senator, Obama co-sponsored legislation (introduced by Joe Biden) to end the disparity. What further review is needed?…

So the question becomes: is the Obama administration really committed to a fundamental shift in America’s approach to drug policy or is this about serving up a kinder, gentler drug war?

And this at a time when the tide is clearly turning. Inspired by the massive budget crises facing many states, and the increase in drug violence both at home and abroad — leaders on all points across the political spectrum appear more willing to rethink our ruinous drug policies.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for “an open debate” and careful study of proposals to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox has also urged renewing the debate, saying that he isn’t convinced taxing and regulating drugs is the answer but “why not discuss it?” Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, pointing to evidence that Mexican drug cartels draw 60 to 80 percent of their revenue from pot, suggested legalization might be an effective tool to combat Mexican drug traffickers and American gangs….

I understand that drugs continue to be a political hot potato, fueled by what the Latin American presidents described as “prejudices and fears that sometimes bear little relation to reality.” And I can easily picture some on the president’s team advising him to keep the issue on the backburner lest it turn into his “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

But the cost of the drug war — both human and financial — is far too high to allow politics to dictate the administration’s actions. Indeed, with all the budget cutting going on, how can anyone justify spending tens of billions of dollars a year on an unwinnable war against our own people?

Change won’t be easy. The prison-industrial complex has a deeply vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Which is why we need to keep the pressure on the president and his team to follow through on their drug policy promises.

As with the regulation of Wall Street, real reform of our nation’s drugs policies won’t happen without someone in the administration making it a top priority.

As I have suggested in a number of prior posts, one symbolically important gesture that President Obama could and should make in this regard is to commute the sentences of a few non-violent drug offenders who have already served lots of time in prison. A particularly sensible group of potential candidates for some clemency relief might be the most sympathetic crack defendants who have not been able to get effective sentence reductions under the US Sentencing Commission’s liimited reduction of its crack guidelines.

Some related posts on the drug war and clemency: