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Republican positions on illegal drugs
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There may be a slight fluctuation in research numbers, but nearly every noted source estimates that the United States – since the 1970s - has spent approximately $500 billion on the War on Drugs.
And while the republican platform on illegal drugs remains almost unchanged from the days of Richard Nixon, both red state voters and red state politicians are beginning to see the folly of this long, losing battle.
According to a recent poll by the Zogby organization, three in four likely voters believe the U.S. War on Drugs has been a failure. Even more surprising is that the sentiment is expressed across party lines – 86% of democrats, 81% of independents and 61% of republicans.
When poll respondents were asked what they believe is the single best way to combat international drug trafficking and illicit use, 27% of likely voters said legalizing some drugs would be the best approach -- 34% of Obama supporters and 20% of McCain backers agreed.
Texas Representative (and former republican presidential candidate) Ron Paul said of the War on Drugs, “Total failure. Some day, we have to admit it. We have the federal government going into states that have legal medical marijuana, arresting people--undermining state laws--arresting people who use marijuana when they're dying with cancer and AIDS, and it's done with, as a compassionate conservative. And it doesn't work. Most of our history, believe it or not, had no drug laws. Drug addiction is a medical problem. It's not a problem of the law.”
Drugwarsfacts.org offers a wealth of statistics, as does the FBI. A few of the Bureau facts:
Of the 1,841,182 arrests for drug law violations in 2007, 82.5% (1,518,975) were for possession of a controlled substance. Only 17.5% (322,207) were for the sale or manufacture of a drug.
Although people may think that the Drug War targets drug smugglers and 'King Pins,' in 2007, 47.4 percent of the 1,841,182 total arrests for drug abuse violations were for marijuana -- a total of 872,720. Of those, 775,137 people were arrested for marijuana possession alone. By contrast in 2000 a total of 734,497 Americans were arrested for marijuana offenses, of which 646,042 were for possession alone.
John McCain's website and plan for fighting crime can be found here.
Click here for the 2008 State Republican Platform
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