INTRODUCTION The government alone cannot stop drug abuse. The epidemic in our city and in our country is the result of millions of individual choices. The first and most important truth about the war on drugs is that it is waged by and against individual people, not by the government. The war will be won only if and when the people decide they will no longer accept drug abuse. The "war," then, is really about changing attitudes. The actions outlined below are designed to change attitudes of addicts by giving hope; of pushers, by introducing stringent, certain punishment; and of the vast majority who know drugs are dangerous but feel drug use is a matter of private choice. - But even if the government cannot solve the problem, its role is an important one. The government should help those who want to break the chains of chemical addiction. It should educate the people on the dangers of the product. And it should punish the drug dealers who would enslave others with their wares. Most of all, the government has a duty to safeguard the not merely to warn and to educate, but to nation's young protect. - They are our future. If the war on drugs is ever to be won, it will be won when today's "Just Say No" generation translates the gradeschool slogan into lifelong adult behavior. Drugs are illegal because they destroy lives, more surely and more quickly than abestos or DDT. It does not follow that because alcohol and tobacco are legal, drugs should also be legalized. The effect of drugs upon the human mind and body is much more devastating. The City of Columbus has been active in the war on drugs for some time. In 1986, the Administration issued a proposal titled Fighting Drugs: The Mayor's Initiative on Substance Abuse. It outlined many goals that are now in place, including a local DEA office, public information programs, additional police equipment, personnel, and police educational programs in the schools. The nature of the fight changed dramatically with the appearance of crack - - a highly refined form of cocaine and, more recently, crank, a smokeable, crack-like form of methamphetimine. These drugs are in a class by themselves: inexpensive, This is the easily accessible, and often instantly addictive. Last spring, Mayor Dana G. Rinehart convened a series of more than a dozen meetings of experts in the many areas of the drug problem teachers, prosecutors, neighborhood leaders, - probation officers, judges, treatment providers, police officers, social workers, and more. The suggestions and observations were carefully noted and distributed to all the participants who were asked to prioritize the recommendations. The recommendations were grouped according to the importance placed on them by the discussion participants. top-ranked items became the foundation for this document. The То the extent that programmatic directions could be detailed, they are discussed below. The City Office of Management and Budget conducted a preliminary cost review of the items. That analysis, with assumptions noted, is included as Section V. On September 19, 1989, Mayor Dana G. Rinehart addressed the City in a first-ever live broadcast on all commercial television channels. He outlined the results of this process, and released a draft document with details of the recommendations. He asked the people of the City to read the report and offer their input. The response was overwhelming. More than a thousand letters and phone calls poured in, offering help, donations, new ideas, and criticism. document incorporates that input. This The recommendations and policies outlined below are broken down into four major categories: Education and Prevention, Treatment, Enforcement and Changes in Law. Specific actions are noted. This is not a comprehensive plan. If we are in a war on drugs, this is a plan for the next series of battles. There are This document outlines what people think needs to be done, from people on the street to direct practitioners. surely other things that ought to be done; no doubt some initiatives we try will not work. As a community, we will debate, we will confront, we will compromise. Those things are not to be feared, only inaction. If we do nothing, we will be forever wrong and we will have defeated ourselves. This document outlines proposals that will be undertaken inside and outside of City Hall. The execution of this plan, and the coordination of actions between city government, other levels of government, and outside agencies will be the responsibility of a drug coordinator, to be hired immediately. The coordinator should be supported by an assistant and clerical staff. RECOMMENDATION 1. The Administration will hire |