cannabisnews.com: Official Public Health Journal Blasts U.S. Policy! Official Public Health Journal Blasts U.S. Policy! Posted by FoM on January 14, 1999 at 07:02:32 PT NEW YORK, The forthcoming issue of Public Health Reports harshly criticizes U.S. drug policy, arguing that increased U.S. drug enforcement has fueled overdose deaths and drug-related emergencies. In the January/February 1999 issue of Public Health Reports, the official journal of the U.S. Public Health Service, the lead article reveals how U.S. policies have led to dramatic increases in drug-related overdose deaths and emergency room visits."From a public health point of view, drug prohibition is a disaster," said Dr. Ernest Drucker, a professor of epidemiology and social medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York and author of the study. "While our government officials claim success in reducing drug use, drug-related deaths and diseases have increased sharply. That's the best measure of the impact of our drug policies -- and they are failing."The author of the study, Dr. Ernest Drucker, explains that while whites, Hispanics and African Americans use drugs at the same rates, African Americans are far more likely to be arrested for drug-related offenses and to suffer a higher rate of emergencies and overdose deaths."Perhaps the publishing of this article signifies a greater willingness by the public health establishment to challenge American drug war strategies," said Ethan Nadelmann, founder and director of the Lindesmith Center. Specific Findings of the Study: Drug Enforcement Gets the Resources Annual state and federal drug enforcement expenses are estimated at more than $40 billion, compared with less than $8 billion for all treatment, research and prevention in the U.S. from all government and private sources.Drug Use Has Dropped, But ER Visits and Overdoses Have Increasd From 1978 to 1994, drug-related emergency room visits rose by 60% (from 323,100 annually to 518,500) and overdoses increased by 400% (from 2500 to 10,000). Drug Purity is Up, Prices are Down -- The average purity of street heroin increased dramatically between 1981 and 1996, from 6.7% to 41.5%. -- From 1981 to 1996, the average price per gram of cocaine fell by 66%. African Americans Disproportionately Affected -- African Americans are almost 20 times more likely to be incarcerated for drug law violations, despite similar use rates among whites, blacks and Hispanics.Dr. Drucker, a Senior Fellow with the Lindesmith Center, is also Editor-in-Chief of the journal Addiction Research. Full text of his article is available on the world wide web at http://www.of-course.com/drugrealities.The Lindesmith Center is a New York-based drug policy research institute that concentrates on broadening the drug policy debate. The Lindesmith Center is a project of the Open Society Institute, the nonprofit foundation established by philanthropist George Soros to promote the development of open societies around the world. The founder and director of the Lindesmith Center is Ethan Nadelmann, J.D., Ph.D., author of Cops Across Borders: The Internationalization of U.S. Criminal Law Enforcement (Penn State Press, 1993) as well as numerous articles on drug control policy in leading scholarly and popular journals. Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 14, 1999 at 09:54:22 PT Here's Marijuana Info! Here are all the news articles from this web site on Medical Marijuana! I hope this helps. It seems the news this week has been more on drug policy reform rather then on Cannabis issues. It seems to run in cycles. Peace and Good Luck with your report!http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Katie on January 14, 1999 at 08:42:25 PT: Pot you need more info on POT. I am doing a school report on Pot and I can't really find anything. can you please send me some information!!! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: