Is It Time to End the War on Drugs? - King County Bar Association

Conclusions and RecommendationsEFFECTIVE DRUG ABUSE PREVENTIONThe prevailing approach <strong>to</strong> preventing drug abuse is not working. “Prevention”programs aimed at youth have been largely ineffective, based on <strong>the</strong> faulty premises thatjuvenile drug use can be completely eliminated, and that <strong>the</strong> chief concern is drug use per sera<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>the</strong> social forces that give rise <strong>to</strong> drug abuse and o<strong>the</strong>r problem behaviors.Most youth pass through adolescence without experiencing any significant adverseconsequences from drug use. However, more young people are beginning <strong>to</strong> use illicitsubstances at earlier ages. Although <strong>the</strong>re is no cause-effect relationship, research showsthat early initiation of drug use is associated with poor school performance, low schoolattachment and school dropout, antisocial and criminal activity, substance abuse and o<strong>the</strong>rproblem behaviors. For those young people at risk of abusing drugs, who are not resilientenough <strong>to</strong> ward off o<strong>the</strong>r environmental risks, early intervention is essential. To <strong>the</strong> extentthat children’s cognitive, physical and social development is compromised by <strong>the</strong> use ofdrugs, it is in <strong>the</strong> public interest for Washing<strong>to</strong>n <strong>to</strong> develop a more effective, statewidesubstance abuse prevention strategy.Drug use by our youth should be strongly discouraged, but experimentation with<strong>the</strong>se substances is inevitable for many adolescents. Prevention efforts should be focused on<strong>the</strong> harm associated with drug use, ra<strong>the</strong>r than merely <strong>the</strong> use of drugs. <strong>It</strong> is important <strong>to</strong>distinguish between varying degrees of harm associated with different substances and <strong>to</strong>develop a strategy that reduces <strong>the</strong> greatest potential for harm. From <strong>the</strong> public healthperspective, <strong>the</strong>refore, Washing<strong>to</strong>n’s substance abuse prevention strategy must includealcohol and <strong>to</strong>bacco, because of alcohol’s close association with aggressive, irresponsibleand criminal behavior and <strong>to</strong>bacco’s highly addictive properties and its well-known, seriousdamage <strong>to</strong> physical health. Although alcohol and <strong>to</strong>bacco are not targets of <strong>the</strong> <strong>War</strong> onDrugs, <strong>the</strong> effort <strong>to</strong> prevent our youth from using substances that are targeted by <strong>the</strong> <strong>War</strong> onDrugs must never<strong>the</strong>less focus prominently on alcohol and <strong>to</strong>bacco. Investing in strategies<strong>to</strong> prevent <strong>the</strong>ir use by minors will yield significant health benefits and will help preventmany problem behaviors by our youth.Some programs have shown modest success in preventing or delaying youth druguse. However, those programs focus principally on helping youth <strong>to</strong> cope with an array ofsocietal influences and <strong>to</strong> develop an increased sense of self-worth, ra<strong>the</strong>r than on <strong>the</strong>hazards of drug abuse. Research indicates that programs targeting “high-risk” youth aremore beneficial and cost-effective than universal drug education programs such as D.A.R.E.,which often rely on fear as a motivating fac<strong>to</strong>r and overstate <strong>the</strong> dangers of certain drugs incomparison with alcohol and <strong>to</strong>bacco. As a matter of social policy, <strong>the</strong>refore, “prevention”resources should be devoted primarily <strong>to</strong>ward programs that build and reinforce social andself-management skills, particularly for youth presenting a higher risk of problem behaviors.13