War On Drugs? Not If We Can Help It
Posted: Thursday, May 13, 2010
by Michael Ramzy
delusionthread.com
Another beautiful day in the land of the free and as Greece starts the Great European Slide of 2010, I was thinking of ways we as a nation could save some money. I'm not talking about saving a couple of millions that are used for bridges to nowhere or other political paybacks - er, bribes - er, projects. That might save a little money, but when you have the debt we have a few millions here and there (even a few billions) won't do much.
First, the contractors (or rather, their lobbyists) won't allow it. That's first because corruption and quid-pro-quo is alive and well as always in Washington (and in your hometown, too, don't kid yourself).
Second, Mr. Obama and the Democratic Congress would never do it, even though they would probably get a boost in their rankings because we the people seem so bored with these wars. These wars aren't too popular with the media either, and they must be bored too because ever since Mr. Obama has taken over the body counts have stopped. Has anyone noticed this?
Another way to save money is stop the War on Drugs. Mr. Nixon called it that back in the early seventies and since then we as a nation (meaning us taxpayers) have shelled out over 1 trillion dollars to fight this. Drug use is down, we are told, but we are not told it is only cocaine use which is down - probably because the disco scene is dead. Every other drug, and some new ones, are more popular than ever. Some statistics:
1) For every 100 dollars in drugs which crosses the Mexican border, we stop 25 cents' worth.
2) Drugs and drug commerce now account for 1% of all commerce on the planet. That's over 300 billion dollars a year.
3)We have spent 121 billion dollars to arrest and prosecute more than 37 million drug offenders.
4) We have spent 450 billion dollars to lock those people up in federal prisons alone. Of all federal prisoners, almost half are there because of drugs or drug-related offenses.
What to do? We have only two choices since what we are doing is not working. Sure, many are getting off drugs and yet for every one getting off there are more lining up to get hooked. What we are doing is not working, in spite of all of the money, manpower and good intentions. We have two choices:
Legalize drugs and tax them: this will obviously increase revenue and the theory we will have a drug-addled America isn't supported since we already have a drug-addled America (and don't get me started on prescription drug use/abuse).
Lock everyone up: This is the answer many have, and yet the cost is too prohibitive. How do I know? We're already pretty much doing that now and it isn't working. We can talk about zero-tolerance until we're blue in the face (although there is a pill for that!) and it still won't stop the problem.
I don't use drugs. I wish people didn't need to use them, and I certainly wish those who are dependent on them (including those secretly hooked on the pills in their medicine cabinet) get the help they need. But please: a war on drugs? No, not if we can help it.
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Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)You nailed it. But because it is progressive, your ideas of legalization will be initially deemed dangerous and antisocial. Then, after some acceptance, your ideas of legalization will be scorned and laughed at, a butt of jokes. And finally, without a whimper and no accolades as our country slowly goes broke, nobody will be imprisoned anymore and defacto legalization will take place, followed by a stampede for the money, as is happening with grass. Keen insight my pharmaceutical wizard.Drugs create havoc with the economy and lives are ruined daily, and yet this 'war' isn't helping at all. Something needs to be done, and legalization seems to be the lesser of all evils. Won't happen, but thanks for your comments. Maybe someone can come up with something that will cure America of this addiction. Hopefully.
Yeah Mike, if we would change the system (or our way of life) in this country there would be less use of drugs. It's an escape from reality (things as they are) Yes put an end to war and the need for drugs will be far less than it is today.Agreed. Thanks for reading and commenting. I think if people realized reality has its own rewards, they would be a little more content to live through it. Thanks again.
Drug Czar admits War on Drugs not working. Obama suggests making drugs a public health matter, not a criminal matter. Should have been realized years ago, but we'll take it.Anything to stop the nonsense will help. Thanks for stopping by.
The war on drugs is a complete joke. We (taxpayers) could use that money to plug the deficit.True, but we do have a drug problem which needs to be addressed. Sure, this 'war' has had little (net) effect, but something needs to be done to wean us off the stuff. Thanks for writing.Michael with all due respect a good start would be to wean us off of our incessant need to control other peoples lives. Offer help and they will come when they are ready. People will not change simply because we dictate that they should.
Hi Michael.I've been saying this for years. Let's tax the stuff and help the deficit. But people worry about just what you said. Easier to get doesn't mean that more people will use drugs, in my opinion. It just means that drugs will probably cost less, create tax revenue and put more money in the illegal drug consumer's pockets for other things. Like food and housing. It might even decrease the crime associated with trying to get enough cash together for the next fix. Who knows. Could be a really good thing. There. I've said it.DianneEasier to get means more actual competition, which drives prices down. The crime aspect of it I am uncertain of, however, since those who resort to crime to feed their habit (as opposed to 'recreational' users) will perhaps continue to do crime to be able to afford more of the stuff. In other words, even if prices go down, habitual users will want to get more of the stuff (for the same money), and they will still need to rob or steal.Thanks for commenting.
Drugs suck and people are weak. Always be. For the country to get back on track they have to start doing conservation of energy. We have to end the game on oil. Conservation. Ck out Amery Lovins on youtube. "We can conserve more than we can consume." One way is Domestic Solar Hot Water. Mandatory in Hawaii, Spain, and Israel. The State of Florida hardly uses solar power. The sunshine state what a joke. These people need a serious clue. Ha. Ha. Own your own hot water with a ROI in 4 years or pay utility company FPL for as long as you own your home. End the game.Thanks for your comment.
As long as the rule of the land is to allow large corporations to use their mega funds to influence our law makers, corporate Americas biggies, pharmaceutical and tobacco who do not want the competition, and firearms who rely on the war for their massive profits, and the people who get to demonize drug users in order to inflate their own egos, drunks have to have somebody to look down on and justify their own drug preference use on, sanity does not stand a chance.Interesting take, yet we the people have the ultimate responsibility to uphold our own selves. Thanks for the comment."Uphold our own selves" is not what dictating to other people what they can and can not do to themselves is.Dictation creates friction, friction creates war, war creates death! In this case to innocent people who have nothing to do with the drugs themselves.After all what we are presently doing is working so well, I guess we should just keep it up.
Are you serious? Legalize drugs AND tax their use? And what are we supposed to do with all those empty prisons?Seriously, great article. SO much corruption and pork politics going on. When I drove to DC I could feel the intelligence and common sense being shut down the nearer I got.Great stuff here, Michael.Thanks, Ken. I appreciate it very much.
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