Post by Tim Collins on Sept 1, 2009 4:22:51 GMT -7
Like many Americans who give the topic of illegal drugs and our nation’s strategy for combating this problem, I'm of mixed emotions.
To any thinking person, the "War on Drugs" has proven itself a failure on many fronts.
Stiffer penalties, for possession and distribution and/or sale has strangled our courts and filled our prisons to the breaking point. Obviously this strategy aimed at reducing the demand side is not fulfilling its promise. Instead we have created a whole sub-population of former inmates, now unable to gain lawful employment even when the so desire. We have created within our prisons a whole new sub-culture of professional gang members.
The drug trade, with its unbelievable profits, has turned many areas of many major cities into nearly free fire zones. The street gang organizations, built around the distribution and sale of drugs, have captured many of our youth in their snare. Since the "war on drugs" began under Richard Nixon or before, at least three generations of our young have grown up in the web of the drug trade and gangs built to support it.
Whole nations (Afghanistan, Columbia for a time, Panama, and now possibly Mexico) have fallen to a state of siege with a never-ending battle for control with the well financed and armed drug traffickers. Billions in U.S. foreign aid, in the form of cash, equipment and even military and police advisors, has resulted in only temporary victories. Every "cartel" we shatter is quickly followed by intramural warfare between its former rivals until a new "leader" emerges in charge.
So if I really believe the “war on drugs” has failed, why am I of mixed emotions? Why am I not joining the legalization bandwagon? Simple – I just don’t know if that is any better an answer than was/is the “war on drugs”.
I could do some basic research, as many have done, and give all kinds of numbers showing how much our current policy cost in all its various guises. I could also do different research to show how much less it would cost, or how much revenue legalization would generate for the government. But honestly, this is more an emotional reaction at this point.
I worry about the message it sends when we empower our government to distribute drugs of any sort, in particular drugs that we have labeled illicit for so long a time. As a father, I worry about how my children will view such an action. On the other hand, what message are we sending now? Obviously the “black” market is sending a powerful message to a receptive audience. Sell drugs and achieve vast wealth.
I wonder where we draw the line. Legalize marijuana only, or include other drugs as well? Marijuana only, I might support that option.
I am 50 years old. I grew up with marijuana all around me. I know many, many of my peers that have smoked it, and many that continue to do so today, yet maintain a very productive and responsible life for themselves and their family. On the other hand I know others for whom marijuana just didn’t cut it and they moved on to cocaine, or some other more powerful drug and have made a mess of what could have been successful lives. I have buried at least three friends due to drug abuse, and know at least two childhood friends that are serving or have served time in prison due to drugs.
I guess the heart of my confusion is the unknown. I know the current, long standing; position has not reached the objective sought and shows no sign of ever getting there. What I don’t know is if legalization will fare any better, and if it doesn’t will it make things even worse?
One thing I am sure of though is that incarceration, and harsh sentences for use and possession has done nothing but end any chance for a productive life for those imprisoned under the current laws. I can stand 100% behind a change that allowed judicial discretion in sentencing and provided for the availability of drug counseling and perhaps even relocation as an alternative to a jail sentence. Under our current system, far too many young people are effectively given a life sentence for an act that when you strip away all the rhetoric is quite possibly nothing more than a youthful indiscretion.
Where do you stand?
To any thinking person, the "War on Drugs" has proven itself a failure on many fronts.
Stiffer penalties, for possession and distribution and/or sale has strangled our courts and filled our prisons to the breaking point. Obviously this strategy aimed at reducing the demand side is not fulfilling its promise. Instead we have created a whole sub-population of former inmates, now unable to gain lawful employment even when the so desire. We have created within our prisons a whole new sub-culture of professional gang members.
The drug trade, with its unbelievable profits, has turned many areas of many major cities into nearly free fire zones. The street gang organizations, built around the distribution and sale of drugs, have captured many of our youth in their snare. Since the "war on drugs" began under Richard Nixon or before, at least three generations of our young have grown up in the web of the drug trade and gangs built to support it.
Whole nations (Afghanistan, Columbia for a time, Panama, and now possibly Mexico) have fallen to a state of siege with a never-ending battle for control with the well financed and armed drug traffickers. Billions in U.S. foreign aid, in the form of cash, equipment and even military and police advisors, has resulted in only temporary victories. Every "cartel" we shatter is quickly followed by intramural warfare between its former rivals until a new "leader" emerges in charge.
So if I really believe the “war on drugs” has failed, why am I of mixed emotions? Why am I not joining the legalization bandwagon? Simple – I just don’t know if that is any better an answer than was/is the “war on drugs”.
I could do some basic research, as many have done, and give all kinds of numbers showing how much our current policy cost in all its various guises. I could also do different research to show how much less it would cost, or how much revenue legalization would generate for the government. But honestly, this is more an emotional reaction at this point.
I worry about the message it sends when we empower our government to distribute drugs of any sort, in particular drugs that we have labeled illicit for so long a time. As a father, I worry about how my children will view such an action. On the other hand, what message are we sending now? Obviously the “black” market is sending a powerful message to a receptive audience. Sell drugs and achieve vast wealth.
I wonder where we draw the line. Legalize marijuana only, or include other drugs as well? Marijuana only, I might support that option.
I am 50 years old. I grew up with marijuana all around me. I know many, many of my peers that have smoked it, and many that continue to do so today, yet maintain a very productive and responsible life for themselves and their family. On the other hand I know others for whom marijuana just didn’t cut it and they moved on to cocaine, or some other more powerful drug and have made a mess of what could have been successful lives. I have buried at least three friends due to drug abuse, and know at least two childhood friends that are serving or have served time in prison due to drugs.
I guess the heart of my confusion is the unknown. I know the current, long standing; position has not reached the objective sought and shows no sign of ever getting there. What I don’t know is if legalization will fare any better, and if it doesn’t will it make things even worse?
One thing I am sure of though is that incarceration, and harsh sentences for use and possession has done nothing but end any chance for a productive life for those imprisoned under the current laws. I can stand 100% behind a change that allowed judicial discretion in sentencing and provided for the availability of drug counseling and perhaps even relocation as an alternative to a jail sentence. Under our current system, far too many young people are effectively given a life sentence for an act that when you strip away all the rhetoric is quite possibly nothing more than a youthful indiscretion.
Where do you stand?