In my previous post about Florida's new pee-in-the-cup law I expressed my disdain for our "War On Drugs". Lest I look like some Hippie or Doper, I thought I might take a moment or three to expound on my thoughts about it.
First off, I don't do drugs. I can't say I've never done them, I was young once (back in the last century) and experimented a bit. I smoked my share of weed, tried Coke a time or two, and I'm still waiting for one of those flashbacks they promised me. When I finally grew up, I wised up. Unfortunately, some of my friends didn't. I've attended the funerals of some of them. I've watched a few others lose jobs, families, and friends. And a few I've visited or written to when they found themselves guests of the State or County. In short, drugs are bad, mmkay?
But the war on drugs is worse. Much worse.
Starting as far back as 1914 with the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act and then the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act in 1922 The die was cast for the start of a war we could never win.
In 1937 President Hoover ramped it up when his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon called on Harry Anslinger to serve as the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.
Under Anslinger, the bureau lobbied for harsh penalties for drug usage. The FBN got the credit for criminalizing drugs such as cannabis with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, as well as strengthening the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914. they worked hard to stop the smuggling of opium and heroin and had overseas offices in Turkey, Beirut, Thailand, and other countries where smuggling was rampant.
Harry, it seems, wasn't beyond stretching the truth wherever possible in reaching his goals. Any one who's ever seen the movie "Reefer Madness" should realize that. He, and his buddy, William Randolph Hearst, the publisher, bombarded the Government and the public with half truths and outright lies. Here are some gems:
"Colored students at the Univ. of Minn. partying with (white) female students, smoking [marijuana] and getting their sympathy with stories of racial persecution. Result: pregnancy"
"Most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, jazz musicians, and entertainers. Their satanic music is driven by marijuana, and marijuana smoking by white women makes them want to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and others. It is a drug that causes insanity, criminality, and death — the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."
The modern drug war was started by Tricky Dick Nixon back in the 60's and was given a big boost by Nancy, the wife of my favorite President Ronald Reagan again in the 80's and early 90's. It has been an abject failure. It has wasted Trillions of dollars and has reaped no benefits whatsoever, unless you count the money and property seized in the course of arresting sellers and users. And of course the profits of the prison industry.
As I type this, over 750,000 non-violent drug offenders are in our prison system. People that would otherwise be productive members of society are imprisoned because they ingested something that the Government decided is bad for them. They hurt no one but themselves, but we have to pay to warehouse them.
It has transformed our police from helpful public servants into a para-military force. Thousands people have been innocent victims of these para-military police tactics. Search warrants served at the wrong house, innocents caught in crossfire, no knock raids where the residents thought they were experiencing a home invasion and tried to protect themselves, being shot in the process. I don't hate cops and I certainly don't think all of them have this mentality, but many do, and that taints the good ones.
In many countries drugs are still illegal, but instead of jailing addicts, they treat them. Either by detox or by supplying pharmaceutical grade drugs and clean needles. It costs less and allows addicts to be contributing members of society, not a drain on resources. In still others, drugs are legal and usage has gone down. Would that work here? I don't know, but anything has to be better than what we have going on now.
The drug war going on in Mexico right now has cost over 30,000 lives, decimated cities like Juarez and even upscale places like Monterrey. Tourism has dropped off to virtually nothing, and has turned the whole country into a Police State. Dead bodies hang from overpasses and decapitated corpses are dumped on the streets. Car bombings and drive by shootings are a daily occurrence. Corruption is rampant and drug cartels rule entire regions and even dictate what the press reports. They are so brazen they mark their vehicles with their logos like they are official vehicles. They set up roadblocks and kidnap and murder at will. No one really knows how many victims there truly are, because many bodies simply disappear.
Prohibition does not work. Period. It didn't work in the 20's with alcohol, and it isn't working now with drugs. I don't know what the answer to the drug problem is, but what we've been doing since 1914 ain't it.
Einstein said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It's official, the government IS insane!
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