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Drug Czar Needs to Look Beyond Worthless Laws

Enforcement doesn't work, but there is hope elsewhere

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 29, 2009 10:38 AM CDT

(Newser) – In a chat with new czar Gil Kerlikowske, George Will notes that the war on drugs, as it has been waged, is an utter failure. Harsh drug laws have done nothing to reduce drug-taking, he writes, and incarcerating drug users is looking more and more... Read full story »

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Politics • Crime & Courts • Health • US

War on Drugs • alcohol • DEA • Drug Enforcement Administration • George Will • Office of National Drug Control Policy • Obama administration • Gil Kerlikowske

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(NEWSER) - President Obama will officially nominate Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to be drug czar today, reports the Seattle Times. Though the job is being demoted from its Bush administration Cabinet status, Kerlikowske will have “a direct line to the president and vice president,” says an official. Drug law reformers view Kerlikowske, who said Seattle marijuana arrests were not a priority, as an ally. More»

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Latin American Nations Reject DEA

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Drug Czar Needs to Look Beyond Worthless Laws

Enforcement doesn't work, but there is hope elsewhere

War on Drugs • alcohol • DEA • Drug Enforcement Administration • George Will • Office of National Drug Control Policy • Obama administration • Gil Kerlikowske

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More Newser Stories

Drugs Czar Calls for End to 'War on Drugs'

Change in terminology signals shift in drug policy towards treatment instead of jail

Obama's Drugs Czar: More Treatment For, Less War On

Kerlikowske says key is to reduce demand

Seattle's Top Cop Picked for Drug Czar

Kerlikowske viewed as reformer, with personal experience of drugs' "devastating effects"

Commando-Style DEA Squads Fight Cartels Abroad

Squads train local authorities, but sometimes things get ugly

Latin American Nations Reject DEA

Bolivia, Ecuador latest to repudiate US anti-drug operations

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