Pubdate: Mon, 31 Oct 2005
Source: Arbiter, The (Boise State, ID Edu)
Copyright: 2005 The Arbiter
Contact:  http://www.arbiteronline.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3516
Author: Brian Holmes

LET'S ELIMINATE THE FAILING WAR ON DRUGS

Out of all the thousands of words available to the American policy 
maker, the one most difficult to utter, even in private, is the word 
failure. Much in the same a way a broken 2x4 hits the gut, the word 
just cannot grab hold of the surrounding air and make its way from 
the mouths of our elected officials.

But, alas, without even much provocation, the Bush Administration has 
done just that.

By proposing a series of cuts to the grossly ineffective and asinine 
drug programs, our leaders are finally getting the hint: The war on 
drugs has been a complete and abysmal failure. However, it didn't 
take a mountain of evidence, criminally, socially nor judicially, to 
make a case strong enough to warrant the cutbacks. Instead, it took 
the mother of all hurricanes to stir the fiscal pot. Hurricane 
Katrina, followed closely by Rita, gave immediate rise to 
fund-raising awareness. And what better way to fund disaster relief 
than to kill all of those failed drug war programs that did nothing 
more than incarcerate generations of minority youth and petty users. 
But, at least the proposal makes sense to just about everyone.

The fiscal responsibility, which most taxpayers and Republicans can 
agree, is one of the most efficient ways to stay afloat in these 
fluctuating economical times.

The social responsibility, which the Democrats would love to promote 
as their own, is the most civic option available.

Think about this: By eliminating such programs as the Anti-Drug 
Campaign, the federal government gets to save nearly $120 million 
dollars per year.

By eliminating state grants for the Drug-Free Schools program, the 
government saves a whopping $438 million dollars. And by eliminating 
the disgraceful and highly embarrassing Byrne Justice Assistance 
Grants program, we, the ever-gracious taxpaying public get to help 
our government save nearly $800 million dollars per year.

Finally our officials are taking heed to the chorus calls that demand 
effective action. There should not have been such a long delay. 
Katrina's victims deserve accommodation. Those incarcerated for petty 
drug crimes deserve a lesser, more humane sentence.

And those who have been caught up in the war on drugs, whether 
through racial profiling or negligence, deserve effective drug 
treatment and restitution.

Money has always been the key to motivating a displaced public. But, 
now that it no longer makes any fiscal sense to continue these 
programs, let's do the right thing, the civic thing, and finally lay 
the war on drugs to rest.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman