“Bumper sticker” approaches are politically appealing and popular, but they aren’t the right ways to deal with complex major issues connected to drugs and the toll they take, the nation’s drug czar said Wednesday during an appearance in Eckstein Hall.

Neither calling for a war on drugs nor calling for legalization of drugs are effective paths, said, Gil Kerlikowske, whose actual title is director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Smart, well-structured approaches that combine law enforcement, treatment options, and prevention efforts create a third path that can yield good results, Kerlikowske said.

The “drug war” of the 1980s and ‘90s was “a totally inadequate answer to what is really a very complex problem,” he said. Using law enforcement alone, “we’re not capable of solving drug problems.” But using multiple approaches can show genuine and positive results.

Kerlikowske cited a nationwide decline in cocaine use – he estimated the decline at 40% — as an example of multiple factors coming together to help reduce a problem. He said the factors include reduced cocaine production in Columbia, better interdiction of drug shipments by law enforcement, and widespread recognition among potential users in the US of the dangers and risks of the drug.

I’m looking forward to this year’s annual Restorative Justice Conference, “The Death Penalty Versus Life Without Parole: Comparing the Healing Impact on Victims’ Families and the Community.” The conference was inspired by a fascinating empirical study comparing the long-run experiences of family members of homicide victims in Texas, which has the death penalty, and Minnesota, which does not. Authored by Marilyn Peterson Armour and Mark S. Umbreit and forthcoming in the Marquette Law Review, the article concludes that the Minnesota family members achieved a higher level of physical, psychological, and behavioral health.

The conference kicks off with a keynote address by Armour (pictured here) at 4:30 on February 21. The following day will include several panels providing a diverse set of first-hand perspectives on the impact of homicide, capital punishment, and the criminal process on family members, lawyers, judges, and many others. Additional information about the conference is available here.