‘As long as the demand is there’
LISTENING to some of the lawmakers’ recent comments regarding meth addiction in the community reminded us…of some of the lawmakers’ comments in the 1990s when the CNMI was dealing with a full-blown meth epidemic. Those were the days when people were holding beach parties to smoke “ice.” Users included prominent CNMI officials and businesspersons. In response, lawmakers declared that there should be “zero tolerance” as they passed “tougher” laws against drug trafficking, and provided more funding to Customs so it could hire more personnel and acquire modern machines and equipment to prevent drug smuggling.
That was over 30 years ago. Today, the novelty of meth has worn off, and the ravages of meth addiction are well known. Smoking meth is no longer a fad. But meth addiction persists. Why? Because addiction is a compulsive, if not desperate, need to use a substance, despite harmful consequences to physical, mental, or social well-being. Addiction involves a loss of control. Or as a drug addict told the local court following his arrest, for the nth time, for meth possession: “I’m back in court your honor because I am an addict.”
The NMI should stop beating itself up over its drug abuse problem. It is a regional, national and global issue. Even U.S. prisons can’t stop it. America declared a “war on drugs” in 1971 and since then, according to the Wall Street Journal, “drug use has soared in the U.S. and globally, the range and potency of available drugs has expanded and the power of criminal narcotics gangs has exploded.”
In neighboring Guam, a federal public defender told Variety that in his 14 years there, “he has seen no evidence that the war on drugs is being won or that drug usage is being curtailed.” He said “demand is so high and profits are so tempting that focusing simply on cutting supply is hopeless.” There are “no limits to the human imagination when it comes to smuggling illicit drugs,” he added.
In the CNMI, the Customs director said they will continue to try their best to prevent meth and other illegal drugs from entering the islands. We believe him. However, as he himself has acknowledged, “As long as the demand is there, these dealers will provide the supply. I don’t think it will stop.”
No to knee-jerk ‘solutions’
BEFORE we attempt (again) to “solve” the island’s meth problem, we must, first of all, know what the CNMI is dealing with it. Let’s hear from DPS, Corrections, Customs, the courts, the prosecutors, the public defenders, doctors, and current or former drug abusers themselves. Let’s understand what drug addiction truly is. Let’s find out what has been done by other countries and jurisdictions to curtail drug smuggling and drug abuse — and what the results of those efforts are.
Like UOG’s Criminal Justice Capstone class, NMC can host a public forum that will bring together “a panel of experts to discuss the challenges and solutions surrounding the ongoing drug epidemic on the island.” According to its organizers, the Guam forum, which was held on Wednesday, was “designed to foster an informed discussion on the social, legal, and law enforcement challenges related to drug-related crime on Guam.”
An informed discussion — that’s what we need before we can even talk about “solving” an old and stubborn problem.
