Drug war to focus on treatment, not jail

[JTFrog]

Choice of drug czar indicates treatment, not jail
Focus on cutting U.S. demand signals sharp departure from Bush policies

By Carrie Johnson and Amy Goldstein


The White House said yesterday that it will push for treatment, rather than incarceration, of people arrested for drug-related crimes as it announced the nomination of Seattle Police Chief R. Gil Kerlikowske to oversee the nation's effort to control illegal drugs.

The choice of drug czar and the emphasis on alternative drug courts, announced by Vice President Biden, signal a sharp departure from Bush administration policies, gravitating away from cutting the supply of illicit drugs from foreign countries and toward curbing drug use in communities across the United States.

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Kerlikowske's top deputy is expected to be A. Thomas McLellan, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania medical college and the chief executive of the Treatment Research Institute in Philadelphia, according to two sources in the drug control community, who said the selection underscored the administration's philosophy of rehabilitation and outreach.

On the campaign trail, Obama and Biden promised to offer first-time, nonviolent offenders a chance to serve their sentences in a drug rehabilitation center rather than in federal prison. In promoting wider use of drug courts, the administration is embracing an idea that has broad support in theory but has never been a main path for people with drug addictions who are charged with crimes.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29649079

[Echo In Light]

1. Propaganda to focus on bullshit, not reality

[FudaFuda]

2. Doesn't help or change much for the non-busted, does it?

Still a crime, still a war, still need the storm troopers, and an arrest will still be an anathema upon your future.

I'm not saying this means NOTHING, but the biggest benefactor will be drug counselors, i.e. one more 'legit' wing of the drug war that needs to keep drugs illegal for their job security.