Since early last week officials close to the Obama administration have indicated that Gil Kerlikowske will be named as the nation’s next drug czar. What they didn’t mention was the paradigm shift that this could provoke in U.S. drug policy.
The administration has since officially come out in support of Kerlikowske’s ascension to the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. All that’s left for the 59 year old ex-Seattle police chief to assume the mantle is confirmation by the senate and should this nomination go through its repercussions could alter the nations long standing, hard line drug stance commonly referred to as the “war against drugs”.
This nomination is considered a windfall among those who believe that the drug policy should be changed. Under Kerlikowske, drug policy’s emphasis is expected to shift from arrest and prosecution to methods more like those employed in Seattle: intervention, treatment and a reduction of problems drug use can cause, a tactic known as harm reduction.
These tactics stand in contrast to those applied by John P. Walters, who led the office under the Bush administration, who focused on tough enforcement of drug laws, including emphases on marijuana and drug use among youths.
The agency pointed to reductions in the use of certain kinds of drugs, but it was criticized by some local law enforcement officials who said its priorities did not reflect local concerns, from the rise of methamphetamine to the fight against drug smuggling at the Mexican border, reports the New York Times.
By: Alberto Ramos Cordero
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