The War On Drugs Is Over (If You Want It)
Want to end the war on drugs? Lobby your local police department. They've quietly had the power to end the whole thing this entire time—and some are doing just that.
This week, sick of an opioid overdose crisis that had killed four people in his town of 30,000 since the first of January, Gloucester, Massachusetts Police Chief Leonard Campanello wanted to make certain he didn't have to investigate another one.
"We are poised to make revolutionary changes in the way we treat this disease," he wrote in a Facebook post. He wasn't kidding.
Starting on June 1 in Gloucester, any addict who walks into his police station seeking help will get it—and they won't face charges. They'll be assigned an "angel," like a sponsor, to help them through the transition. And nasal Narcan, which helps in the immediate aftermath of an overdose, is being made available at potentially no cost without prescription or insurance. Campanello swung a deal with a local CVS to make it happen.
"The reasons for the difference in care between a tobacco addict and an opiate addict is stigma and money," he wrote. "Petty reasons to lose a life."
Campanello wants to fix the drug problem in his city, not punish those who fell victim to it.
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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/08/the-war-on-drugs-is-over-if-you-want-it.html
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