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Bush's 'Born-Again Drug War'

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Fri Aug 13, 2004 at 03:37:20 PM EST
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If the drug war is of interest to you, do not miss "Bush's Born-Again Drug War" over at Alternet today. It's written by Paul Armentano, the senior policy analyst for The NORML Foundation in Washington, DC..

Listen to George Walker Bush speak about substance abuse and it's apparent that one is listening to a preacher, not a president. "There are faith-based organizations in drug treatment that work so well because they convince a
person to turn their life over to Christ," Bush divulged to the religious journal Christianity Today. "By doing so, they change a person's heart [and] a person with a changed heart is less likely to be addicted to drugs and alcohol."

Despite US Constitutional restrictions requiring a separation of church and
state, Bush's ardent Judeo-Christian faith ­ the President is a practicing Methodist who "accepted Jesus Christ into [his] life" in 1986 ­ remains the staple of his administration's anti-drug platform.

Bush, the Proselytzer. Even Nixon and Reagan kept their wars on drugs secular. Who's paying for Bush's faith-based programs? You, the taxpayer. And, the article informs us, faith-based drug programs are not particularly effective:

Religious drug treatment programs [like those favored by Bush] turn back the medical clock to the 19th Century," says Samantha Smoot of the Texas
Freedom Network, a faith-based initiative watchdog group whose membership
includes over 7,500 religious and community leaders. "The President values
programs that say: 'We can pray you out of your addiction' more than programs that say: 'We will treat your addiction with counseling, medical treatment and spirituality.' Even more outrageous is his insistence that taxpayers foot the bill for his dangerous approach."

Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United, a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., calls the programs unconstitutional and a "shell game."

"The administration insists no public funds will be spent on
religion, then turns those funds over to groups that openly brag about how
much religion they have in their programs. The level of duplicity is
staggering."

More of our coverage of faith-based prisons is accessible here.

< Feds Told to Release Torture Files | A Misguided Prison Policy >

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