Report:
Prohibition
and
Public
Health
1/15/99
The lead article of the January/February issue of Public Health Reports, the official Journal of the U.S. Public Health Service, argues that increasing U.S. drug enforcement has driven increased overdose deaths and drug-related emergencies. According to Excite News, the author, Dr. Ernest Drucker, professor of epidemiology and director of the division of community health at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, said "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." From 1978 to 1994, drug-related emergency room visits rose by 60 percent, from 323,100 annually to 518,500, and overdoses increased by 400 percent, from 2,500 to 10,000, according to the report. Drucker further explained that Hispanics and African Americans are far more likely to be arrested for drug-related offenses and suffer a higher rate of emergencies and overdose deaths than whites, despite using drugs at the same rates. Dr. Drucker's article is available online in PDF format at http://www.of-course.com/drugrealities/. The excite.com Health New article is available online at http://nt.excite.com/news/u/990113/13/health-drugpolicy/. Ernest Drucker has been interviewed for this week's Drug Reform Coordination Network News radio show, online at http://www.drcnet.org/drcnn/ from late Friday afternoon.
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