Pubdate: Mon, 17 Feb 2003
Source: New University (CA Edu)
Copyright: 2003 New University Newspaper.
Contact:  http://horus.vcsa.uci.edu/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2812
Author: Nathan C. Masters

DRUG WAR FIGHTS COMMON SENSE

We've all seen taxpayer-funded television commercials or magazine ads 
declaring that drug users fund terrorism. One print ad that caught my 
attention appeared recently on the back cover of National Review, a 
conservative magazine that questions the "war on drugs."

At first, I thought that the ad might have been a parody: "If you don't 
want something to be true, does that make it PROPAGANDA?" It then declared 
that "if people stopped buying drugs, there wouldn't be a drug market. No 
drug market, no drug dealers. No drug dealers, no drug violence, corruption 
and misery." It seemed like the ad was making fun of the simplistic 
reasoning behind the government's campaign. Nobody believes that the drug 
market can ever be eliminated; drugs are already illegal, and their use is 
rampant. But after a little research I was able to conclude that the ad was 
actually paid for by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

In true propaganda fashion, the ad ignored the central fact that the only 
reason drugs are linked to "violence, corruption and misery" is because of 
the war on drugs. The government has made producing and trafficking drugs 
illegal, and those activities are therefore part of the criminal world.

When the government makes something illegal, it does not eliminate it; 
rather, the government only transfers production and transportation of it 
from legal companies and individuals to illegal ones--that lesson was 
learned during Prohibition in the 1920s. When alcohol became contraband and 
law-abiding citizens could no longer transport or sell it, organized crime 
stepped up and provided the supply to meet the demand. Gang wars erupted 
and crime bosses grew in power.

A similar increase in "violence, corruption and misery" has accompanied the 
intensification of the federal government's efforts to eradicate drug use. 
Street gangs serve as shopkeepers in the black market for drugs. Because 
the price of drugs is inflated, due to the increased costs of importing 
them, addicts must rob innocent people to fund their habit. Those who 
commit no other crime than buying and using drugs are jailed as criminals 
instead of being treated medically as addicts.

These are just a few ways by which the drug war creates "violence, 
corruption and misery" within the United States.

The drug war also funds violence abroad, as the federal government admits, 
by funneling hundreds of millions of dollars annually into terrorist 
groups' coffers. South American narco-terrorists earn over $600 million 
each year from the illegal drug trade. And before U.S. forces overthrew the 
Taliban in Operation Enduring Freedom, the regime profited over $40 million 
annually from the drug trade. Terrorists will continue to profit from drugs 
as long as there is a black market for them.

That drug market can never be eliminated. No matter how many millions the 
government spends on ineffective DARE programs and commercials, it cannot 
eliminate the demand for drugs. Likewise, no matter how many billions the 
government spends on interdiction programs, it cannot eliminate the supply. 
If the government decriminalized drugs, criminals would no longer be in the 
business of producing, transporting and selling them. No criminal market, 
no criminal dealers. No criminal dealers, no drug violence, corruption and 
misery.

That reasoning may be just as simplistic as the advertisements. But instead 
of using propaganda, the federal government should allow an open discussion 
of the war on drugs. If the federal government truly cares about 
drug-related violence, it should re-examine its policies and acknowledge 
that current drug policy funds terrorists and has caused an epidemic of 
drug-related crime.

As the ad said, "It may not be what you want to hear. But that doesn't make 
it any less true."

Nathan C. Masters is a third-year political science major and editor in 
chief of Irvine Review.
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