The war on drugs will turn 40 years old in June, but the anniversary isn't about a celebration. On the contrary, with substance abuse and addiction at epidemic proportions, the glaring truth should be more like a wake.
President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse public enemy No. 1 in 1971 creating the war on drugs. Since then roughly $1 trillion has been spent fighting a battle that for all intents, and purposes is a failure in the first degree. That $1 trillion figure is probably a very, very conservative estimate.
Wars can be costly -- in money, rights and lives, but still necessary to defend national sovereignty and core values. It's impossible to make that case on behalf of the war on drugs. Marijuana, cocaine and heroin are effectively cheaper today than they were at the start of the war forty years ago, and just as available now as then to anyone who really wants them reports greenchange.org. And many people can attest to that at this very moment, the author being one of them.
He has been around since the beginning of the war on drugs, and actively involved with the abuse of substances/addiction as well. No impact there, at least for another 33 years anyway, and his recovery is not attributed to that war, as it isn't for countless others.
The epidemic of drug abuse gripping the country at this time, lack of drug abuse treatment from funding cuts ripped from the bowels of these facilities, and organizations that causes them to either reduce services, or close up shop, the millions sent to prison for non-violent, drug, and drug-related offenses over the years has assuredly demonstrated that the war on drugs is a complete failure.
On the law enforcement side, however, it sure keeps a whole lot of people employed in the criminal justice system where a vast majority of substance abusers, and addicts end up with little to no help whatsoever to address the problems that landed them in jail, or prison in the first place. Close to half a million people have been arrested so far this year for a drug offense.
The U.S. federal government spent over $15 billion dollars in 2010 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about $500 per second. Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy, Drug Sense
State and local governments spend about another $25 billion reports Drug Sense.
Every 19 seconds in this country someone is arrested for violation of a drug law. Source: Uniform Crime Reports, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Sense
Even a promise by President Obama to stop using justice department resources to circumvent state laws on medical marijuana have fallen on deaf ears. "Last month, the DEA raided at least 28 medical marijuana dispensaries in Montana and California reported Drug policy Alliance.
While here in Michigan, local law enforcement, and the DEA have raided dispensaries as well despite the 2008 vote approving medical marijuana here. The DEA raided a Walled Lake medical marijuana facility Tuesday morning, 4-12-2011, as part of an ongoing investigation. So much for circumventing state laws, and Obama promises.
The conflict alone between state and federal laws regarding medical marijuana are costing money, and wasting resources. For instance, increasing, say, the number of police in Flint where the murder rate has jumped 100% in the past year since the reduction in officers there.
In the wider scheme of things, this isn't a case where the cart is leading the horse. It's a case where there is no horse at all, and the cart has dry-rotted wheels. Something has to be done, but not knee-jerk ordinances, and conflicting laws that lead to yet more chaos. But what to do?
Should drugs be legalized, and let the health, and mental health professionals deal with the drug abuse/addiction issues?
Some say It would put a whole lot people out of work, prisons would have to close, and the Cartels left twiddling their thumbs wondering what to do since the empires they built would crumble faster than stale bread. And people being killed from the activities these Cartels see necessary in order to keep them in business would vanish.
Should we continue with this war on drugs that keeps people employed en mass, the Cartels afloat, while basically ignoring the public health issue that it is?
As the 40 year anniversary approaches in June it must be a time for reflection, and some serious change regarding policies and laws that have consistently, and for far too long, locked people up in this country for what should be public health issues.
Let's call this 40 year war a wake, and as we walk by the casket where the War on Drugs is laid out, figure whether we should cremate it entirely, or do some serious modification to the sucking money pit that it is. After all, we have been getting nothing in return for the effort.
Just ask the 2500 teens who wake up each day in this country and get high for the first time on prescription drugs, or the famiiies who have lost a loved one to drug abuse whether the war is working.
Peace...
- The adolescent brain is not fully developed, making a young person extremely vulnerable to drug and alcohol addiction among other problems.
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