Brainstorming
here is our opportunity to move out of the nine dots and provide creative policy problem definitions that will lead to solutions. Given the propensity for policy experimentation at the state and local levels of government in the United States, such analysis is useful and often successful in influencing change. Let us propose several ideas that should be constructively assessed, followed by separate criticism and evaluation.
Current drug policy is based largely on an enforcement problem definition: How do we remove anyone involved in the drug trade from the street to the cell? It has been billed as a supply-side drug policy. As noted previously, 66% of the S17.1 billion FY 1999 budget for drug control is for enforcement, and only 34% is for demand reduction through education and treatment programs (Office of National Drug Control Policy 1998,16). Is this an appropriate definition? Brainstorming can help by providing alternative definitions.