November 22, 2009
UTNE READER

Seeking Peace in the War on Drugs

A new anti-war movement emerges, challenging the militarization of drug policy

September/October 2001
By Ethan A. Nadelmann, Lapis 
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Drugs and Addiction 
Ayahuasca: Sacred Tea from the Amazon
-Jeremiah Creedon,

Honoring Our Hunger for the Ecstatic
-Fred R.

Seeking Peace in the War on Drugs
-Ethan A. Nadelmann
Discuss ayahuasca in the Currents forum at Café Utne's: cafe.utne.com

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"So what you’re saying is, you want to legalize drugs, right?"That’s the first question I’m typically asked when I start talking about drug policy reform. My short answer is, "No, that’s not what I’m saying. Legalize marijuana? Yes, I think we need to head in that direction. But no, I’m not suggesting we make heroin and cocaine available the way we do alcohol and cigarettes.""So what are you recommending?" is the second question. "And what do you mean by drug policy reform?"Here’s the longer answer.There is no drug legalization movement in America. What there is, is a nascent political and social movement for drug policy reform. It consists of the growing number of citizens who have been victimized, in one way or another, by the drug war, and who now believe that our current drug policies, like alcohol prohibition in the 1920s, do more harm than good. Most members of this "movement" barely perceive themselves as part of any broader cause.The movement might include the judge required by inflexible, mandatory minimum sentencing laws to send a drug addict, or petty dealer, or dealer’s girlfriend, or Third World drug courier to prison for a longer time than many rapists and murderers serve.Or the corrections officer who recalls the days when prisons housed "real" criminals, not the petty, nonviolent offenders who fill the cells these days.Or the addict in recovery—employed, law abiding, a worthy citizen in every respect—who must travel a hundred miles each day to pick up her methadone, because current laws do not allow methadone prescriptions to be filled at a local pharmacy.
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