The War on Drugs has been a dismal failure for a long time, and now the U.S. government is after medical marijuana, specifically, as well as other drugs it has never been able to curtail, or stop.
For over 40 years this war simply has sucked money for results that basically haven't changed since it started with the exception of increasing the amount of people incarcerated for drug, and drug-related crimes.
There will always be drug dealers, drug abusers, and addicts. But as long as the U.S. continues to approach the drug problem from a law enforcement perspective, and pushes this farce called the "War on Drugs," we will not get any further than the same results to date.
Legalize drugs? The criminal justice system would almost collapse, literally, and the states couldn't find wood fast enough to shutter the prisons from their closings. Thousands upon thousands of jobs would be lost as well. The Cartels would vanish, along with the thousands of murders committed each year.
Would drug abuse, and the addiction rate climb if drugs were legalized? Educated guess? It would hardly be noticeable, if at all. Besides, we have a drug epidemic as it is, and the war on drugs hasn't had any impact on it anyway.
Drug policy, however, could be molded in line with Portugal with their drug decriminalization efforts.
In the U.S., with all the money that could be saved from stopping the "war on people", which is what it amounts to, and treating drug abuse, and addiction as a public health issue, that money could be used on drug education, treatment, prevention, mental health disorders, and aftercare efforts. Those treatment facilities, tethers, and other options could be used as diversion programs to keep lower risk offenders out of jail, and prisons.
Decriminalizing, or legalizing drugs, and letting the drug treatment professionals, educators, and others in the field take the helm would produce far more positive results than the war on drugs.
Yet the U.S. government continues with the illusion of progress in winning the war on drugs, and even ramping up their war on marijuana.
Recently, a crack down on Harborside, the world's largest medical marijuana dispensary located in California was taken by the U.S. government where civil forfeiture proceedings were filed against the business to take their properties, according to Yahoo News. Now 100,000 medical marijuana patients are in jeopardy of losing their access to the drug they need for their medical conditions.
It's all a cat and mouse game that no one is winning, except the U.S. government, while the public takes the hit.
Peace...
If you or a loved one needs help with any type of drug abuse/addiction problem, contact these sites depending on where you live. SEMCA (Wayne County residents), CARE (Macomb County residents), PACE (Oakland County residents), Drug Free Detroit (City of Detroit residents). For those residing outside the State of Michigan, contact SAMHSA for assistance. For assistance with medical marijuana issues contact The Michigan Medical Marijuana Association, Michigan Medical Marijuana Certification Center, or greentreesdetroit.com, phone number: (313) 967-9999, or (248) 677-2888
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