Federal Drug Policy Softens as Whites Become Face of Heroin Addiction

[eridani]

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/34540-federal-drug-policy-softens-as-whites-become-face-of-heroin-addiction

The numbers speak loud and clear about who’s suffering from America’s current heroin crisis—white people. The American Medical Association reports that 90 percent of first-time heroin users in the last decade were white.

But that didn’t stop Maine Gov. Paul LePage from using racially coded language to blame his predominantly white state’s heroin problem on outsiders.

“These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty—these types of guys—they come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, they go back home,” LePage said during a town hall meeting on Thursday. “Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing, because then we have another issue we have to deal with down the road.”

In addition to prompting accusations of racial insensitivity, LePage’s comments also betray a lack of understanding about who is most affected by the crisis. Heroin addiction disproportionately impacts white families, and U.S. drug policy is changing as a result—reversing long-standing trends in which drug addiction was largely perceived as a problem for racial minorities and seen as grounds for stricter law enforcement and prison sentencing.

The move, which was spearheaded by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., and House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., signaled a surprising change of heart for the party that once equated such harm-reduction programs to surrender.

Asked to explain why he chose to champion funding for needle exchange programs after publicly opposing them, Rogers told TakePart in an emailed statement that he “still [opposes] the use of federal funds to subsidize illicit drug use, but also believes many organizations administering syringe exchange programs at the state and local level are uniquely poised to provide much-needed intervention for those struggling with addiction.”

[bobGandolf]

1. I remember the last time heroin addiction became a white person crisis, in the 70's, and....

the federal government found money to finance much-needed intervention for those struggling with addiction.
When it was a problem mainly with minorities, the gov. never could find the money for treatment programs. Now that heroin addiction has reached epidemic proportions in white suburbia again, the pressure on politicians to do something has become intense.
Hopefully drug addicts will again be treated as patients, not just criminals.

[Warren DeMontague]

2. I think heroin addiction was a "white person crisis" in the 90s, too.

It certainly had a resurgence around some of the aspects of the grunge scene (see Cobain, Kurt)--

part of the issue here, that the drug warriors won't tell you, is that some of what is happening is that there has been significant tightening or the rules around prescription pain meds, and both addicts and people with pain management needs are turning to street opiates in response.

I'm sort of of the opinion that it's better to actively and aggressively manage pain for those who need it, even if the risk is that some people may catch an unauthorized buzz. Yes, there are people who abuse the system. But when you let the drug warriors call the shots, you get cases like Richard Paey, the wheelchair-bound spinal pain patient sentenced to 25 years in Florida Prison for managing his own pain (he took "too many pills", according to the prosecutor).

25 fucking years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/19/opinion/punishing-pain.html

I actually think the best thing for addictions to all sorts of hard drugs would be both treatment on demand and harm reduction strategies.

Certainly filling prison cells with drug users doesn't work.