Spend on Rehab not Aid

Textron owns Bell Helicopter, which reconditions Huey 11 helicopters for $1.8 million each. Textron and its employees gave $551,816 to the Republicans in 1996, and $364,420 to the Democrats in 1998. Now a $1.7 billion Colombia aid bill will buy 33 Hueys for $66 million.

United Technologies makes Blackhawk helicopters. United Technologies gave $362,340 to the Republicans in 1996, and $347,200 to the Democrats in 1998. As part of the $1.7 billion to Colombia, the US will buy 30 Blackhawk helicopters for $360 million.

Wouldn't it be nice if the AMA and the people who do drug rehabilitation would lobby for that $1.7 billion to go for drug rehabilitation programs and not for aid to Colombia's military and paramilitary to stop cocaine use in the US?

A RAND study in 1996 found that $1 spent on drug rehabilitation programs is equal to $7 spent on police efforts to reduce cocaine use and to $12-$15 spent on anti-cocaine programs in foreign countries.

Columbia intends to spend $5 billion of its $1.7 billion allocation on military uses other than fighting cocaine, and a lot of that money will go to paramilitary groups that account for 75% of the human rights abuses there.

So if we are spending $1.7 billion to reduce cocaine use in the US, it would seem wise to spend it on drug rehabilitation programs in America, not on the military in Colombia. The AMA should lobby to stop this mis-direction of drugfighting resources.