The Drug War Has to End: David Simon on "The Wire" & Over-Policing of the Poor

[JDPriestly]

3. Thanks for your post.

With regard to the drug war, I would like to hear from some inner city doctors, maybe emergency room and other hospital doctors. They handle drug overdoses and deal with addiction when drug seekers come to their hospitals.

What is there view on how to handle the drug problem?

I wouldn't narrow it just to inner city doctors, but I would narrow the inquiry, the investigation, to doctors who deal with addicts, addiction and the panoply of medical problems that drugs cause.

What is their view on the drug war, on legalization, on incarceration, on all the alternatives for dealing with the medical problems that drugs cause?

Then I would like to hear from people who deal with the social problems that drugs cause?

Would ending the drug war result in a worse or a better situation?

I honestly don't know. What is happening now is terrible. But what are our choices? And can we get a better understanding of the problems?

Does poverty play a role or perhaps not?

What is the role of race?

How do drugs exacerbate the rates of other crimes?

Which drugs? What neighborhoods?