Editorial: Legislators say they are tired of studies

The Legislature's Interim Finance Committee rejected Wednesday the state Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse's request for a $478,000 study on what is required to fight alcohol and drug abuse in Nevada. It was the right decision. At first glance it might seem like a worthy project, but Assemblyman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said the agency last year spent $500,000 to study the same topic. And that's not all. There have been four such surveys on this issue within the past five years.

"How many studies do we need to know there is a problem?" Leslie noted. "We need more treatment." Too often government takes the approach that if it studies a situation long enough, it eventually will discover the appropriate course of action. The problem with this thinking is that it can mushroom into a mind-set where too much time is wasted studying -- rather than actively confronting -- the issue at hand.

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