Juvenile Justice and the War on Drugs

By: Julia Quinn, CfJJ Intern

After more than three decades of prohibitionist and militaristic rhetoric surrounding efforts to combat illegal drug availability and consumption, it appears that world leaders and drug experts have acknowledged the need to reframe the debate.  Yesterday, NPR’s Tom Ashbrook convened a discussion about the Global Commission on Drug Policy’s claim that the war on drugs has failed.  The participating experts called for a dramatic shift in the way Americans think about drug use, urging the government and the public to shift from an emphasis on incarceration to a focus on prevention, education, treatment, and rehabilitation, addressing nonviolent drug use as a public health problem.