Drug War is 'Not Lost,' Former White House Drug Policy Spokesman Robert Weiner Asserts in Washington Post Invited Rebuttal to Le
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a rebuttal invited by the Post's "Outlook" section, former White House Drug Policy spokesman Robert Weiner challenged the Washington Post's front page lead "Outlook" article on the international drug trade, in which writer Misha Glenny asserts that our efforts against drugs are "The Lost War." Weiner labels Glenny's argument that "the problem starts with prohibition" a "flawed premise" because "while we still have a lot to accomplish, the national effort against drugs is working on its own terms."
"Rebuttal: The War Is Not Lost," Weiner's article is titled, in Washingtonpost.com today.
Weiner contends, "With a comprehensive anti-drug strategy in place, involving foreign policy, enforcement, education, treatment and prevention, overall drug use in the United States has declined by roughly half in the past 25 years -- from about 13 percent of the population in 1980 to just over 6 percent of the population in 2005. Cocaine use, including crack, is down 70 percent. Do we want to go back?
"In Afghanistan , we should do more, not less, to fight drugs -- doing so stops the money that funds and protects Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Glenny's impressions notwithstanding, this effort is not hopeless. What is hopeless is the attitude of the British and American military that fighting drugs will destabilize the Afghan economy. The happiness of Afghan farmers is less important to me than the security of American citizens.
"Afghanistan has once again become the No. 1 producer of opium and heroin in the world on our watch -- by our lack of action. Afghanistan's drugs are killing the youth of Asia and America -- and protecting al-Qaeda.
"Plan Colombia has helped to reduce cocaine and crack use in America. Yet about half the drugs coming into the United States come through or from Mexico . While Mexico has eradicated more drugs than any nation on earth, it needs help. Of course we should assist Mexico in its anti-drug efforts.
"When Glenny writes, 'The problem starts with prohibition, the basis of the war on drugs,' his premise -- that the 'war' is 'lost' and strategies are failing -- is flawed. If any other problem -- hunger, poverty, illiteracy -- were reduced by half, we'd call it major progress. Yes, as Glenny states, 'the war on drugs has been a third rail issue' in Washington since it began. That's because Congress and the American people understand that to fail to confront drugs would be to cause a train wreck."
Weiner's rebuttal appears in Washingtonpost.com today:
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/21/AR2007082100692_pf.html
CONTACT: Bob Weiner/Rebecca Vander Linde, 301-283-0821/202-329-1700
SOURCE Robert Weiner Associates
