Bush Drug Policy a Study in Failure

In 2002 the Bush Administration committed itself to reducing drug use in America by 25% within 5 years. On The New York Times Science Blog John Tierney declares the effort a stark failure. He draws upon a report published in The Bulletin of Cannabis Reform by Jon Gettman, a senior fellow at the George Mason University School of Public Policy, to make his case. This accounting was sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) and it evaluates the same database used by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to make an opposite claim.

Gettman comes to three main conclusions:
1. The Bush Administration has failed to reduce or control marijuana use in the United States. Marginal changes in marijuana and other drug use have been distorted to support false claims that incremental progress in reducing marijuana and other drug use has been achieved. Marijuana use is fundamentally the same as when the Bush Administration took office and illicit drug use overall has increased. Drug use data do not support Bush Administration claims that its policies have had a significant impact on illicit drug use in the United States.

2. Increases in drug treatment admissions for marijuana (often cited by officials as"proof" of marijuana's dangers) are driven by criminal justice policies rather than medical diagnosis. These policies increase public costs for providing drug treatment services and reduce funds for and availability of treatment of more serious drug problems.

3. Bush Administration documents acknowledge and document the failure of their national drug control strategy.

Cross posted on The Trebach Report