Drug-related murders have reached such epidemic dimensions that Washington`s frustrated police chief Tuesday suggested trying to find a drug that could be routinely injected into youngsters to blunt the euphoria that comes from using cocaine or heroin.
Chief Maurice Turner Jr. said the development of such a drug would be
”the greatest contribution the medical community of this great nation can conceive for our children.”
He told a national conference on crime and drugs sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, ”I`m convinced that the medical research and capability to make this idea a reality are here.”
However, Turner`s idea was immediately dismissed by drug experts as unfeasible on both medical and practical grounds.
”Who would you inject?” asked Bob Weiner, a spokesman for the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. ”That is a wild proposal.” Dr. Robert DuPont, former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, agreed. ”That`s not a bad idea if you could do that, but you can`t,” he said. ”There`s no prospect of having that either, from a scientific viewpoint. He`s just stabbing in the dark.”
DuPont said one drug, Naltrexone, is an effective blocker of the euphoric effects of heroin, but no comparable drugs have been developed to offset the the effects of cocaine. Even if such drugs existed, he said, they still would not solve society`s drug problems.
”How many drugs are there?” he asked rhetorically. ”It`s like trying to find a vaccine for the common cold. You`re not going to solve the common cold problem with a vaccine, and you`re not going to solve the drug problem with a vaccine. There are too many kinds of drugs.”
Turner said that if there were a drug to prevent children from getting high, ”We would not have to spend millions of dollars on enforcement and treatment.” He expressed support for a large-scale inoculation program and said in reply to a question that it should be viewed the same as wide-scale polio vaccination campaigns.
Washington recently replaced Detroit as the U.S. city with the highest murder rate. Washington had 372 homicides in 1988. And 51 more were reported in January, the deadliest month in the city`s history. If January`s pace continues, Turner projected, the city might end up with 600 homicides this year.
”I don`t know if you call it encouraging when one loses a life, but most of the people that are being killed or wounded are involved in drug trafficking themselves, and the general community has not been caught up in it,” Turner said.
”But it`s just a matter of time before an innocent person is going to get caught in a drug battle between the dealers.”
Homicide statistics were only one index of the increased violence, Turner said. Another 1,400 people were shot last year but did not die. And 173 others died of drug overdoses.
In another session at the conference, William Bennett, President Bush`s nominee to be drug czar, acknowledged that the country was not winning the war on drugs.
”But it may be too early to say that we`re not winning the war because it can`t be won,” Bennett said. ”It may be that we`re not winning the war because we haven`t really waged one yet.”
He said that within six months after he is confirmed, he will present Bush with a comprehensive national plan to fight drugs.
Bennett said, ”I promise you that it will be straight. There will be no politics in this report.”
