Follow-up Comments to Drug War Video

Before I get into my comments on the drug war video, let me call your attention to the previous post which describes what I want you to do for essay III. Check that out. I'll hand out a hard copy when you get back. And now for my follow-up comments:


A. Let me begin by commenting on several key figures in the Nixon Administration who were responsible for developing the so-called Nixon program. Although Nixon may have been the first to refer to this campaign against dangerous drugs as a "war," initially his program did not stress law enforcement.

1. Bud Krogh, a young White House aide, is given the assignment of cutting crime in the nation's capital (Wash. D.C.). At first, he takes a traditional, law enforcement approach. But he discovers, through the research of Dr. Robert DuPont, that 44% of D.C. jail inmates tested positive for heroin. Seemed to be a strong relationship between heroin use and crime.

a.) So, it was felt that if we could deal with the problem of heroin addiction, perhaps that could lead to a reduction in crime overall.

2. Jeff Donfeld, another White House aide, came upon the work of Dr. Jerome Jaffe in Illinois, where he had demonstrated success in bringing down the rate of heroin addiction and crime through a treatment program that was based primarily on the use of methadone as a substitute drug to wean addicts from heroin.

a.) Donfeld notes that many liberals were suspicious of the Nixon Adm.'s program of methadone maintenance in the ghetto. It was believed that this was really an effort to subjugate the black community, and by also keeping statistics, make it easier to lock them up. Which is probably why Dr. DuPont was spat upon at that party.

b.) Michael Massing reminds us of the politics of the time and the deep suspicions about the "law & order" Nixon Administration. (Some of which, I believe, proved justified in the context of the Watergate scandal, however, this notion of a conspiracy to subjugate the black community was far-fetched and, unfortunately, may have helped undermine this promising new strategy in dealing with the problem of drugs and crime.)

c.) It is also significant that Nixon did not go after the counterculture hippies who were into marijuana and LSD, even though he certainly had no love for them.

B. Above all, the Nixon approach initially was more PRAGMATIC than ideological. Nixon and his aides were among the most conservative people around, yet they did not let their conservative lifestyles stand in the way of recommending an approach which then, as well as today, would be considered liberal. They wanted something that worked.

1. Unfortunately, in the view of Dr. Jaffe, it did not go far enough in terms of developing a real "national strategy" -- how education, law enforcement, treatment and prevention should be integrated.

C. The discovery of the heroin abuse problem among Vietnam vets also helped the cause, because these drug abusers were perceived as basically good people who had gone astray. They needed help, not punishment.

D. As Nixon announced, the federal government was spending $600 million on the problem, two-thirds of that going for treatment. (that ratio is just the opposite today.)

E. The influence of Myles Ambrose (a law & order cop) and politics, however, also led Nixon to establish the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), which would prove his lasting legacy.

F. The Jaffe Office was pretty much history after roughly two years and some success. Watergate was a complicating factor. Krogh was re-assigned, and eventually indicted and convicted, for his activities with the so-called "plumber's unit."

G. The numerous career DEA agents who were interviewed all reflected a purely LAW ENFORCEMENT perspective. When one commented on the Carter Adm. being out-of-touch or having gotten some bad information, I would suggest it was really that agent or the DEA itself that did not understand the real dangers of marijuana, and that law enforcement and interdiction were not the best way to attack that problem.

H. Dr. Peter Bourne, Carter's drug advisor, supported decriminalization of marijuana. His comments on cocaine not being dangerous were based on its acute effects (i.e., the possibility of dying of an overdose). Also, crack cocaine was not yet on the scene.

I. Emergence of the parents crusade led by Mrs. Keith Schuchard got their act together and wanted more attention focused on teenage pot use. This ultimately proved a huge diversion from the growing problem of cocaine which was just on the horizon in 1980. In the long run, Michael Massing would argue that, however well-intentioned, this parents' movement did a disservice to dealing with the hard-core cocaine and heroin problem which continues to be serious.


That's all for now. Have a good Thanksgiving.