Comments on: The futility of the “war on drugs” http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/12/13/the-futility-of-the-war-on-drugs/ Human Animals at the Crossroads of Culture, Science, Religion and Media Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:35:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Edgar Montrose http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/12/13/the-futility-of-the-war-on-drugs/#comment-18096 Edgar Montrose Tue, 06 May 2008 11:38:30 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1930#comment-18096 grumpypilgrim: "the mistaken belief that punishment alone will fix every problem" I have two different replies to this statement. First, it is not a mistaken belief. Punishment WILL fix every problem, but only if the punishment is so severe as to be draconian. For example, make drug use punishible by death, and you won't completely eliminate drug use, but you will eliminate recidivism. Looking at the situation from this point of view, the problem is not the punishment, the problem is that the punishment is inadequate. I'm not advocating this, I'm just saying that it works. Second, I think that it's not so much a belief that punishment will fix every problem. The mistake in logic is deeper than that. The mistake is the presumption that the cure that seems to make logical sense WILL work. Proponents become so completely convinced that their solution will work that evidence to the contrary is either ignored or is met with redoubled effort put into the failing solution. Like trying to put out a fire with gasoline, this added effort actually makes the situation worse. But proponents, incapable of even considering that there might be something wrong with their perfect solution, just keep adding fuel to the fire. grumpypilgrim: “the mistaken belief that punishment alone will fix every problem”

I have two different replies to this statement.

First, it is not a mistaken belief. Punishment WILL fix every problem, but only if the punishment is so severe as to be draconian. For example, make drug use punishible by death, and you won’t completely eliminate drug use, but you will eliminate recidivism. Looking at the situation from this point of view, the problem is not the punishment, the problem is that the punishment is inadequate. I’m not advocating this, I’m just saying that it works.

Second, I think that it’s not so much a belief that punishment will fix every problem. The mistake in logic is deeper than that. The mistake is the presumption that the cure that seems to make logical sense WILL work. Proponents become so completely convinced that their solution will work that evidence to the contrary is either ignored or is met with redoubled effort put into the failing solution. Like trying to put out a fire with gasoline, this added effort actually makes the situation worse. But proponents, incapable of even considering that there might be something wrong with their perfect solution, just keep adding fuel to the fire.

]]> By: grumpypilgrim http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/12/13/the-futility-of-the-war-on-drugs/#comment-18083 grumpypilgrim Tue, 06 May 2008 00:16:32 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1930#comment-18083 I would have thought that the utter failure of incarceration to dent the drug problem in America would have, by now, convincinced law inforcement types that rehab is a better solution. Unfortunately, the "war on drugs" suffers from the same short-sighted thinking as so many other problems in America (teen pregnancy, the "war on terrorism," gun crime, etc.): the mistaken belief that punishment alone will fix every problem. It doesn't matter that the data shows abstinence-only sex ed, the Iraq occupation, the threat of prison, etc., to all be failures, what matters is that believers in "law and order" have the political clout to shove their failed solutions onto everyone else. I would have thought that the utter failure of incarceration to dent the drug problem in America would have, by now, convincinced law inforcement types that rehab is a better solution. Unfortunately, the “war on drugs” suffers from the same short-sighted thinking as so many other problems in America (teen pregnancy, the “war on terrorism,” gun crime, etc.): the mistaken belief that punishment alone will fix every problem. It doesn’t matter that the data shows abstinence-only sex ed, the Iraq occupation, the threat of prison, etc., to all be failures, what matters is that believers in “law and order” have the political clout to shove their failed solutions onto everyone else.

]]> By: Erich Vieth http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/12/13/the-futility-of-the-war-on-drugs/#comment-18073 Erich Vieth Mon, 05 May 2008 13:37:38 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1930#comment-18073 It is a theory that has long been pushed by criminal justice advocates and liberal politicians -- that some felons, particularly those convicted of minor drug offenses, would be better served by treatment, parole or early release for good behavior. But the states' conversion to that view has less to do with a change of heart on crime than with stark fiscal realities. At a time of shrinking resources, prisons are eating up an increasing share of many state budgets. "It's the fiscal stuff that's driving it," said Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based group that advocates for more lenient sentencing. "Do you want to build prisons or do you want to build colleges? If you're a governor, it's kind of come to that choice right now." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/04/AR2008050402054_pf.html It is a theory that has long been pushed by criminal justice advocates and liberal politicians — that some felons, particularly those convicted of minor drug offenses, would be better served by treatment, parole or early release for good behavior. But the states’ conversion to that view has less to do with a change of heart on crime than with stark fiscal realities. At a time of shrinking resources, prisons are eating up an increasing share of many state budgets.

“It’s the fiscal stuff that’s driving it,” said Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based group that advocates for more lenient sentencing. “Do you want to build prisons or do you want to build colleges? If you’re a governor, it’s kind of come to that choice right now.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/04/AR2008050402054_pf.html

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