Report:
District
of
Columbia
Drug
Policy
a
Disaster
4/24/99
The District of Columbia spends more than any other US city on drug law enforcement, yet it ranks among the worst in rates of substance abuse, drug-related disease and crime, according to a new report from Drug Strategies, a DC-based research institute. "Facing Facts: Drugs and the Future of Washington, DC" found that the District spends $1,257 per capita on drug enforcement each year, but a scant $42.45 per capita on drug treatment and prevention combined. Drug Strategies President Mathea Falco told the Week Online that such spending priorities were not justified by their results. "Last year they only spent $22 million on treatment and $2 million on prevention compared to well over 1/2 billion for drug enforcement," she said. "Despite these massive investments in enforcement, the crime situation has not improved, because most of the offenders in the city have serious alcohol and other drug problems which have gone unaddressed." The report also blamed bureaucratic mismanagement, poor recordkeeping and a lack of cooperation between the District and surrounding counties in Maryland and Virginia for high rates of recidivism among drug-addicted individuals. Along with recommendations for increasing funding for treatment and prevention programs, raising alcohol and cigarette taxes, and increasing support for drug courts and court ordered diversion programs, the report called for the repeal of the Congressional ban on funds for needle exchange programs (NEP's). "We believe NEP's that are well administered and carefully controlled can make a huge difference," said Falco. "In this we are joined by the American Pediatric Association, American Medical Association and the American Bar Association. This is definitely a mainstream position." AIDS is the third leading cause of death in the District, and one in three of an estimated 15,000-20,000 residents living with HIV or AIDS caught the virus by sharing needles. Nevertheless, an amendment introduced last October by Georgia Republican Bob Barr extended the ban on federal funding of needle exchanges to include even privately funded programs run by organizations that receive federal dollars for other work they do. One of the District's only needle exchange programs, run by the Whitman-Walker AIDS Clinic, was forced to close as a result. The exchange program was re-launched in December as a separate entity, Prevention Works, with the help of a grant from the Drug Policy Foundation. Despite the report's grim vision of the District's drug war wasteland, there may be some cause for optimism. At a press conference held in the wake of the report's release, newly-elected DC Mayor Anthony Williams and his cabinet pledged another $26 million for treatment and prevention. "We hear you," Williams said. "We will overlook this problem no longer. Left on auto pilot with these statistics, this is not a pretty picture. We cannot allow this to happen." Falco praised Williams' comments, which she called "terrific expressions of commitment." She added, "What's most needed is for them to keep their commitments." No initiatives have been announced, however, to scale back the prosecution of the Washington DC's massive drug enforcement/prison program. The full text of "Facing Facts: Drugs and the Future of Washington, DC" is available on the Drug Strategies web site at http://www.drugstrategies.org.
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