The DEA is kind of like having a kid who's in an arcade playing whack-a-mole. And the kid isn't winning but he keeps asking us for more money so he can try again.
In the 90s the crackdown was on heroin. Instead of stemming addiction, heroin crackdowns pushed users towards prescription drugs. So in the mid-2000s, our drug control strategy shifted dramatically towards cracking down on "pill mills" and the diversion of prescription drugs to the black market.
The result? Addicts switch back to drugs like heroin and headlines like Pill Mill Crackdown has Addicts Switching to Heroin are popping up all over the country. Each successive crackdown only leads to a new problem, which is actually the same problem we started with.
In Florida...
"It was so easy for them to get the other stuff [oxy] that when that went away, they had to go to something else. It's like a never-ending story" - Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw
"Once all the pill mills started shutting down, people like me just switched to something easier and cheaper to get, and that's heroin. It's a supply and demand thing." Sean, 32, who is in treatment in Fort Lauderdale and spoke to the Sun Sentinel on condition he be identified only by first name.
West Virginia...
"It was that Oxycontin was our major problem. It moved on to another drug opana and now we're seeing a shift more into heroin. And that's driven by, I think in part, due to our crackdown on the supply." - U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia Booth Goodwin
Kentucky...
"Tamper-proof formulations of popular opioids have also contributed to a resurgence of Heroin abuse and it's cheaper and more readily available." - Executive Director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy Van Ingram
Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene revealed that in the first seven months of 2012, the number of deaths from heroin-related overdoses increased 41 percent compared to 2011. Yet death by prescription opioid overdose decreased 15 percent.
These headlines were the same in the early 2000's, only reversed. Then, analysts were saying it was successful crackdowns on heroin that were drying up the market and making people turn to prescription alternatives.
The thing about whack-a-mole is that it's not designed for any purpose other than to amuse. Maybe if you play long enough you get an ugly stuffed animal or some glow in the dark plastic jewelry. But there's no long-term strategy for whack-a-mole.
When the ONDCP starts beating their chests over their successes at curbing prescription drug abuse as they review 2013 statistics next year, notice what their plans are for combatting the resurgence of heroin. Are they trying something new or are they begging for more arcade money?