No More War on Drugs

Remember the "war on drugs"? You know, that 80's relic that assumes its more beneficial to lock users up in overcrowded prisons than to rehabiliate them? (Unless you're a really weathly dude who just snorts at parties sometimes, in which case, carry on.) Yeah, that old thing. Well, Obama's recently appointed drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske says he's done with the term. He gave his first interview since assuming office to the Wall Street Journal yesterday, and told them that, "Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on a product,' people see a war as a war on them...We're not at war with people in this country." Kerlikowske hopes that the Obama administration will deal with drugs as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice one. He certainly doesn't support legalizing drugs, but wants to see policies that focus as much on demand and treatment as they do on law enforcement. He supports needle exchange programs, calling them "part of a complete public-health model for dealing with addiction." Kerlikowske has been criticized for being too lax on drugs during his time as Seattle's Chief of Police, but Tom Coburn was the only Senator to vote against his nomination.