The White House drug czar is trying to make a case for correlation that just isn't there:
A new federal report has found that more than two-thirds of Indianapolis men arrested last year were under the influence of at least one illegal drug.
Wednesday's National Drug Control Policy report showed that 69 percent of Indianapolis men arrested in 2010 tested positive for at least one drug at the time of their arrest.
Among those men, 25 percent tested positive for two or more drugs.
White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske said the findings show that "drug addiction is too often the root of crime" and illustrated the importance of the Obama administration's efforts to send non-violent drug offenders into treatment, rather than jail.
Kerlikowske is getting as much mileage out these statistics as he can, saying much the same thing in places like Atlanta and Portland. Most of the men who commit crimes are also involved with drugs, OK. But it does not follow that drug "addiction" is the root of crime. Nothing wrong with giving drug offenders treatment, especially first-time ones. But that doesn't have anything to do with crimes other than the ones against taking the drugs. Much drug use and crime undoubtedly have common origins in some common facturs, such
