In these times it is very difficult to please everyone when it comes to political views – actually quite impossible. Probably the only thing that can be agreed on is that the state of our nation isn’t great and a lot of people are trying to better its condition.
Along with a new Administration comes new heads of departments and other appointments. The person leading the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has been called the nation’s “Drug Czar”. In previous years, the right side of the aisle has been more prone to support law enforcement, imprisonment and anti-trafficking programs while the left side has wanted to legalize and regulate some drugs and reduce harm through needle exchanges while continuing a lifetime of treatments with medication therapies that carry heavy side effects.
Truthfully, neither side of the aisle is correct and yet at the same time they’re both partially correct. In my mind, a perfect drug policy would be one that:
1. Has an effective national drug prevention/ demand reduction agenda implemented in all grade levels through the public school system.
2. Encourages drug testing and monitoring programs in education and the workplace.
3. Does not legalize harmful drugs but doesn’t lock people up for years for getting high – but instead offers them a chance to get their lives turned around.
4. Imposes harsher penalties on drug companies and holds the FDA accountable for the massive drug-pushing that occurs through pharmaceuticals.
5. Requires any treatment program that receives tax dollars to comply with outcome study standards for rehabilitation results – meaning they have to show that they’re actually working – and then make more of those drug rehab centers available to more people in every state or region by diverting “drug war” money into a broader treatment initiative.
There are probably a few more points that I’m missing, but these would cover the main objectives. The reality of the current situation is that all of the previous strategies have failed and billions of tax dollars are wasted every year on ineffective treatment programs, ineffective prevention programs, harsh criminal prosecution of drug charges and violent drug trafficking battles. We could save more money and help more people by requiring people and programs to be accountable for their actions, including requiring people to pass drug tests in order to continue to receive any type of state or Federal assistance like Medicaid or Medicare.
What do you think?
