More Police Chiefs See Drug War Tactics Failing

A national Drug Strategies survey of 300 police chiefs finds that most feel that the war on drugs is failing, with many calling for more public-health involvement in fighting drug problems, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Dec. 3.

According to the survey that included responses from police chiefs in major metropolitan areas and small towns, 60 percent believed drug misuse is a more serious problem in their area than five years ago.

"Clearly, we are not winning [the drug war]," said Hubert Williams, a former Newark, N.J., police commander and president of the Washington, D.C.-based Police Foundation, an advocacy group that co-commissioned the survey.

"The most significant aspect of the survey, I feel, is that the police chiefs actually feel more strongly now than they did eight years ago when the first survey was conducted that our response to the drug problem is not working," said Mathea Falco, president of Drug Strategies, a research think tank that also sponsored the survey.

Nearly half of the police chiefs surveyed said the responsibility for reducing drug misuse and related crime should be shared among criminal-justice and public-health agencies through education, prevention, and treatment.

Most also support court-supervised treatment programs instead of prosecution for nonviolent drug offenders.

Three out of four respondents said they were lacking the necessary resources to fight the war on drugs.