NYTimes | When
the nation’s long-running war against drugs was defined by the crack
epidemic and based in poor, predominantly black urban areas, the public
response was defined by zero tolerance and stiff prison sentences. But
today’s heroin crisis is different. While heroin use has climbed among
all demographic groups, it has skyrocketed among whites; nearly 90
percent of those who tried heroin for the first time in the last decade were white.
And
the growing army of families of those lost to heroin — many of them in
the suburbs and small towns — are now using their influence, anger and
grief to cushion the country’s approach to drugs, from altering the
language around addiction to prodding government to treat it not as a
crime, but as a disease.
“Because the demographic of people affected are more white, more middle class, these are parents who are empowered,” said Michael Botticelli,
director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy,
better known as the nation’s drug czar. “They know how to call a
legislator, they know how to get angry with their insurance company,
they know how to advocate. They have been so instrumental in changing
the conversation.”
Mr. Botticelli, a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for 26 years, speaks to some of these parents regularly.
Their
efforts also include lobbying statehouses, holding rallies and starting
nonprofit organizations, making these mothers and fathers part of a
growing backlash against the harsh tactics of traditional drug
enforcement. These days, in rare bipartisan or even nonpartisan
agreement, punishment is out and compassion is in.
The
presidential candidates of both parties are now talking about the drug
epidemic, with Hillary Rodham Clinton hosting forums on the issue as Jeb
Bush and Carly Fiorina tell their own stories of loss while calling for
more care and empathy.
