War on Drugs: 40 Years of Fail
'I loved when Bush came out and said, "We are losing the war against drugs." You know what that implies? There's a war being fought, and the people on drugs are winning it.' -- Bill Hicks, Queen's Theatre Late Show (1993)
'Like the war on drugs, the war on terror is absolutely unwinnable.' -- Tim Strawman (2004)
'In the grand scheme, it has not been successful. Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified." -- U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske (2010)
The so-called War on Drugs has failed. Even Kerlikowske, who is in command of the "troops", now admits that the effort that technically began in 1970 has failed. The war has cost a trillion dollars and thousands of lives, yet drug use hasn't dropped.
Even the much lauded DARE program, where school children spent part of a day getting balloons and stickers and hearing people talk about how bad drugs are, has had no measurable effect. But the program continued, and school board members and city officials got their smiling but concerned faces in front of newspaper-reading voters.
In reality, the war's been fought much longer than 40 years. America's "war" began in 1920 with the passing of the 18th amendment to the U. S. Constitution, the one that created the Prohibition against alcohol. The result was the creation of a criminal society where ordinary citizens regularly violated the U. S. Constitution. It also led to the creation of organized crime in America, and may have been a factor leading to the Great Depression.
In 1933, the amendment was repealed, and the Depression slowly began to ease. But organized crime remained, simply focusing on different businesses.
In a real war, you know the enemy. You know who you're fighting. It's Japan or Germany or the United States. In a drug war, there is no enemy, unless it's everyone who takes drugs. But that's virtually all of America.
For every ad on American TV that tells people to say no to drugs, there's dozens pushing them. Even drugs that require prescriptions are being pushed every day on American televison. You don't have that in a real war.
In World War II, movie goers saw many shorts promoting the America war effort. But for every one of those shorts, movie goers did not see dozens of reels telling them to recycle their rubber for Japan. And there weren't hoards of Americans sneaking Japanese and Germans into their homes so they could be shot by them. That is of course ridiculous, and the war analogy simply collapses on paper and in real life.
And we cannot divide drugs into good and bad. Alcohol is legal; used in moderation, it can help prevent heart attack. The Bible says a little wine is good for the stomach, and there's evidence that's true (some medical exceptions apply). Abused, it can kill. So can life-saving prescription drugs. And some illegal drugs are known to be highly effective in certain treatments.
And locking people up hasn't stopped it. Aproximately 50% of people housed in American federal prisons are there because of drug-related charges.
What is the solution? It's what was proposed by those "crazy freaks" way back in the 1960s: education and counseling and professional medical help. Drugs don't force themselves into people's mouths and veins; people take them willingly. People need to be given accurate information from the beginning, not the exaggerated horror stories the government likes to tell. And some people take drugs in a subconcious attempt to self-medicate because they don't have access to the medical care they really need.
And others take drugs simply because they make them feel good. If those people are trained in their safe use, that's not necessarily a problem--until the government makes it a problem.
Timothy Leary, back in the 1960s, advocated training people in the safe use of drugs, telling them what to avoid, monitoring their use in the beginning, and teaching them how to use them responsibly. In other words, use the same methods we use to teach people how to drive or to fly a plane or to play the piano. Don't let someone crash a plane and then teach them how to fly. It's being prepared, and it's also the old but still true proverb that, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Leary also said, back in the 1960s, that fighting drug use would not work. He said it would lead to more organized crime and violence. Representatives of the U. S. Government who thought they could stop drug use literally laughed at him. Who's laughing now?
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The Associated Press has a detailed article on the failure of the War on Drugs, which includes the quote by Gil Kerlikowske, called "AP IMPACT: US drug war has met none of its goals" at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100513/ap_on_re_us/failed_drug_war. Thanks to Danacasso for pointing this out to us.
The Tim Strawman quote is from 'We can't win the "war on terror" because there's no such thing' at http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2004/09/we_cant_win_the.html
The Prohibtion picture at http://richarddetrich.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/prohibition.gif appears on the page http://richarddetrich.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/the-wasted-war/
The ad for Mordidine at http://laurakmoore.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/vintage-drug-ads.jpg appears on the page http://laurakmoore.wordpress.com/category/health-and-fitness/.
No threat to any copyright the photos may have is intended.
Comments
It is a well known fact that no one has died from an overdose of boo. OD on pot and you go to sleep.
Posted by: Vernon Avaritt | May 14, 2010 01:22 PM
Sadly, this is so true. People's lives have been ruined because of a war. The government should learn "if it harms none, do what thou wilt." Marijuana is a natural drug and safe when used properly. It's not as dangerous as what's sold legally. And locking people up who need help is criminal. Let's stop fighting people and start helping them.
Posted by: TawTew the Naturally Perfumed | May 14, 2010 06:11 PM
I want me a new drug
I want it to be good
I want it to be legal
Don't want to be a hood.
Posted by: MJ Lover | May 15, 2010 06:04 AM
If it's not working it's because people are giving in to temptation. And how do you know it isn't working? If they didn't have the War on Drugs it could be a lot worse. You can't make something illegal just because people break the law. Should we make stealing legal because people do it? God instructs us to take care of our bodies, and taking drugs is self-abuse.
Posted by: Christian Andy | May 16, 2010 01:36 PM
Andy that's like saying Coke fights cancer because you know somebody with cancer who drinks Coke and they aren't dead yet. The War on Drugs hasn't made anything better so why do we keep spending money on it?
Posted by: Marie Gilbert | May 17, 2010 05:33 AM
"And there weren't hoards of Americans sneaking Japanese and Germans into their homes so they could be shot by them."
Why not?
Posted by: Why not? | May 18, 2010 05:48 AM
If you let your enemies shoot and kill you, no more war. I suggest it.
Posted by: Rev. Bootie | May 19, 2010 12:43 AM
You're a bunch of drug pushers that's why you want them legal so you can make lots of money getting kids addicted and then you can molest them. You're sick and should go to a DARE demonstration and be tortured and shot in the back. Moral degenerate perverts!
Posted by: Harlen Thomas III | May 21, 2010 12:58 AM
Harlen, they want drugs to be legal because they're drug pushers? You mean they work for a pharmacy? If you mean they push drugs on the street, your post makes no sense, idiot.
Posted by: Harry the Ape | May 22, 2010 08:07 AM
lol at Harlen and Harry.
Posted by: Marie Gilbert | May 26, 2010 01:08 AM
I see it is not usually the public opinion, but I do think that for medical purposes marijuana can be very potent. I think that it should be regulated and made legal.
Posted by: Jackelyn Avera | May 27, 2010 12:50 AM