NCJ Number
167197
Date Published
Unknown
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This is a critique of the White Paper on Drug Abuse submitted to President Gerald Ford by the Domestic Council Drug Abuse Task Force on September 29, 1976.
Abstract
Rather than recommending strict drug control, the White Paper advocated harm reduction. It stressed the harm associated with the use of heroin, amphetamines and barbiturates and called for the use of sufficient resources to reduce the availability and use of those drugs. It also took the position that little harm resulted from the use of marijuana and cocaine and recommended a major reduction in the level of effort and resources devoted to the control of those two drugs. The report failed to reflect that a drug epidemic involving cocaine had peaked in the United States around 1900 and that all parts of society had been affected by it. The critique takes issue with several aspects of the White Paper: (1) It failed to consider past experiences with cocaine in the United States; (2) It rejected any scientific data that conflicted with the prevailing opinion that cocaine was a harmless drug; and (3) Its proposed downgrading of Federal efforts at controlling cocaine in effect encouraged its use at a time when cocaine was rapidly becoming the most destructive drug problem the country had ever known. The critique recommends that the United States reduce overseas drug control resources and deploy them to domestic programs; increase the percentage of drug control resources directed toward treatment and education; and develop holistic drug control initiatives in which police and social service agencies work together. Tables