Short, Sweet and Sour
Some observations on America's other "War"
This will be Short – which is Sweet – even though you may find the message Sour.
The War on Drugs, an unquestionable, unmitigated failure, should be ended immediately.
Period.
(For a longer version, scroll down)
Like America’s other never-ending, horribly expensive, wasteful, and tragic incursions, only Government has benefited, expanding its power and size and unconstitutionally overreaching into private lives as well as other countries.
If ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ holds any value with Americans today, ending this immoral, illegal, “War” is the only solution to end the suffering, damage and death it produces.
An increasing number of States legalizing marijuana is a good start by eliminating unnecessary arrests for possessing or smoking a common weed. It has proven the world didn’t come to an end either, part of the fear porn pushed by government’s early propaganda.
Leaving the compelling arguments of the 9th and 10th Amendments aside, Free Will, Free Choice and Individual Responsibility should have terminated the political rationalization for continuing the ‘War” being the cornerstones of Freedom rather than bastardized by politicians’ obscene lust for power. While Richard Nixon famously stated drug abuse was “public enemy #1”, a President doesn’t have the authority to project his prejudices (and re-election strategies) on the people who elected him. (Note: Nixon’s real reasons for his “war on drugs’ were revealed in a1994 interview with John Erlichman here.)
The asininity of continuing the “War” is broadcast regularly on the Evening News; San Francisco the prime example,with other metro areas close behind. Fentanyl, cocaine and other substances flow across the Southern border with the impunity of miniscule interdiction despite the DEA’s $42 billion dollar budget. The line of defense is nowhere to be seen; only thousands of illegal immigrants strolling into America unimpeded, many of them carrying drugs as payment to the cartels for passage.
News anchors intone “109,680 people died as the fentanyl crisis continued to deepen.” The on-going efforts of the MSM and Government are to charge the drug itself as responsible for the ‘crisis’ and subsequent deaths. At best, this is factually untrue; at worst, an intentional lie. Fentanyl doesn’t kill anyone until it is copiously ingested by an individual making the choice to do so. No drug – not even ‘Magic Mushrooms’ - have mystic powers to compel someone to take it against their will. Unless physically forced by some outside source (gang member, abusive friend, peer pressure), every addict took the first hit, toke, pill, or injection voluntarily. Free will. Free choice. The addiction came later.
Tragic? Yes. Waste of life? Yes. What to do? More laws? No. Greater enforcement? No. Stiffer penalties? No. All of those ‘solutions’ have been tried and failed ad nauseam. Despite Federal and State laws, drugs are more easily available today than ever. Individuals choose to take them for a multitude of reasons the cops and courts haven’t figured out and, in those rare cases when motives were discovered, it was either too late (death) or ineffective (recidivism). But the “War” continues.
Solution: Make them legal. All of them. No penalties. No fines. Those inclined to take drugs are going to take drugs regardless. The streets of San Francisco prove that. Interdiction, free syringes, synthetic “drugs” in vending machines, free meals, housing – all fail. Regardless of penalties, the addiction is stronger than the fear of incarceration. Drugs are readily available in prison anyway. So there’s that.
How bad could legalized drugs be? Bad in the short term but not worse than we have today. Once legal, the attraction falls. One legal, the price falls. Once legal, the cartels and gangs are defunded, disincentivized and disbanded. America’s history with alcohol is instructive.
The reasons why ending the ‘War on Drugs’ don’t immediately appeal to some would take more time and space than my promise of Short, Sweet and Sour permits. If you’re inclined to explore the issue in greater detail, look at this 2016 piece. It’s not perfect, relies too much on continued government involvement, too concerned about taxes, public treatment centers, etc., but the discussion is informative and raises some constructive questions.
As San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Portland, and other metro examples have shown, failure to end the “War on Drugs” will continue contributing heavily to the destruction of our society.
