I'm not a fan of CNN, but here's what their website says about this
series.  It sounds impartial (not that I trust them to tell us up
front) & not related to the medicines we take, unless tonight's
episode "see how your teenager could get high on what is in your
medicine cabinet" is aimed at us.

Plantmistress

Dobbs: The war within, killing ourselves
POSTED: 11:17 a.m. EST, February 14, 2007
More on CNN TV: See how your teenager could get high on what is in
your medicine cabinet. A special report, "The War Within," Lou Dobbs
Tonight 6 p.m. ET.
By Lou Dobbs
CNN
Adjust font size:
NEW YORK (CNN) -- We're fighting a war that is inflicting even greater
casualties than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and, incredibly,
costing even more money. We're losing the War on Drugs, and we've been
in retreat for three decades.

That statement may come as a surprise to John Walters, Director of the
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, who spent last
week trumpeting the Bush administration's anti-drug policies. He
claims these policies have led to a decline in drug abuse and
improvements in our physical and mental health.

While Walters focused on a marginal decline in drug use, he made no
mention of the shocking rise in drug overdoses. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention this week reported unintentional drug
overdoses nearly doubled over the course of five years, rising from
11,155 in 1999 to 19,838 in 2004. Fatal drug overdoses in teenagers
and young adults soared 113 percent.

More than 22 million Americans were classified with substance abuse or
dependence problems in 2005, according to the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration. Nearly 8,000 people are trying
drugs for the first time every day -- that's about 3 million a year.
The majority of new users are younger than 18, and more than half of
them are female.

Obviously, John Walters and I are not looking at the same statistics.
There is simply no excuse for permitting the destruction of so many
young lives.

How can anyone rationalize the fact that the United States, with only
4 percent of the world's population, consumes two-thirds of the
world's illegal drugs?

Former President Richard Nixon first declared a modern-day war on the
use of illicit substances, calling drugs "public enemy number one" and
pushing through the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Since then the
government has waged a futile, three-decades-long war of attrition.

Illicit drug use costs the United States almost $200 billion a year,
according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Include alcohol and
tobacco-related costs along with health care, criminal justice and
lost productivity and the figure exceeds $500 billion annually.

Even with new rehabilitation centers and clinics, less than 20 percent
of drug and alcohol abusers receive the treatment they need and the
cycle of drug-related crime continues unabated.

It's estimated about half of the more than two million inmates in our
nation's prisons meet the clinical criteria for drug or alcohol
dependence, and yet fewer than one-fifth of these offenders receive
any kind of treatment. Studies show successful treatment cuts drug
abuse in half, reduces criminal activity by as much 80 percent and
reduces arrests by up to 64 percent.

As NIDA reports, "Treatment not only lowers recidivism rates, it is
also cost-effective. It is estimated that for every dollar spent on
addiction treatment programs, there is a $4 to $7 reduction in the
cost of drug-related crimes. With some outpatient programs, total
savings can exceed costs by a ratio of 12:1."

In the midst of the global war on terror along with wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, we have forgotten about the brutal effects of narcotics
trafficking on millions of American lives. We must end the abuse of
drugs and alcohol, and provide successful treatment for Americans
whose addictions are destroying their own lives and wounding our
families and society.

Whatever course we follow in prosecuting other wars, we must commit
ourselves as members of this great society to only one option in the
War on Drugs -- victory.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the
writer.