Pubdate: Tue, 29 Oct 2002
Source: Times, The (LA)
Copyright: 2002 The Times
Contact:  http://www.shreveporttimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1019
Author: David Lassiter
Note: David Lassiter is a Shreveport consulting forester.

LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT NATION'S DRUG LAWS

We are regularly asked to believe the federal government is helping us - in 
war, through education, welfare, medicine, old age, etc. We are asked to 
believe this on faith alone. Our leaders have taken many courses of action 
that were disastrous in that they made the problem in question worse. One 
such action is the "war on drugs" declared by President George H.W. Bush.

The reasons for the declaration of the war on drugs are many. We know about 
the violence, the international connections, lost productivity, broken 
families, and so on. Good reasons, but are we winning this "war"?

Unfortunately, no. Drugs are more abundant now than ever. Our federal 
government, the prosecutor of the war on drugs is unable to keep illegal 
drugs out of its own prisons. Violence and the social costs of drug abuse 
increase every year. This "war" siphons resources from the private sector, 
diverting them from their most productive uses.

Drug abuse can lead to a long list of physical and mental illnesses, both 
to the individual and those close to him. But substance abuse is a social 
problem and the heavy hand of government has proven ineffective at solving 
social problems.

For perspective, parallel the war on drugs with Prohibition. During the 
Prohibition period consumption of alcohol actually increased. Millions of 
people lost respect for the rule of law. Thousands of legitimate small 
businesses - wineries, breweries, vineyards and related business in the 
local economy - were ruined.

But the booze business continued. Only during Prohibition, people like Al 
Capone, who were willing to use violence, controlled it. Normal legal 
business dealings require a certain level of peace and cooperation. The law 
and a system of justice were in place to redress grievances. When that 
system was made unavailable, violence naturally became standard practice. 
In fact, the skilled use of violence became a hallmark of success among 
this new breed of businessmen.

Then, as now, people tend to fixate on inanimate objects. Shallow thinking 
tells us that if we just get rid of those objects, life will be good. But 
history and common sense tell us that human demands will be met, on the 
open market or the black market. While individual acts of violence against 
innocents is always the fault of the aggressor, honest assessments of both 
Prohibition and the current war on drugs show that it is the law, not the 
substance, that promotes the culture of violence. Prohibition was a 
disaster and was ultimately repealed. The current drug laws are just as 
bad. While we may not be ready to scrap the drug laws in this country, it 
is time to take a hard look at what works, what doesn't and why.
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MAP posted-by: Beth