Pubdate: Tue, 28 Nov 2006 Source: University Daily Kansan, The (Lawrence, KS Edu) Copyright: 2006 The University Daily Kansan Contact: http://www.kansan.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2809 Author: McKay Stangler, for the editorial board. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Milton+Friedman (Milton Friedman) WAR ON DRUGS NEEDS TO BE REEXAMINED Recent Changes Make the Debate Relevant to Students The death of an influential economist who advocated decriminalizing drugs has prompted the need to revisit the United State's War on Drugs. The recent death of famed economist Milton Friedman has prompted an avalanche of essays about his influential monetary writings. Friedman was indeed a driving force behind many of today's fundamental economic policies, and his ideas deserve the laudatory nature of these tributes. But in the rush to sanctify Friedman's fiscal faculty, another aspect of his impressive career, of special import to students, may be overlooked. Friedman was a vocal advocate for the decriminalization of drugs, and his passing reminds us that the time to re-evaluate the War on Drugs is long overdue. Though attempts at drug prohibition have existed for decades, it was not until President Nixon declared drug use "public enemy number one" in 1971 that the War on Drugs as we know it began. Since then, the federal government has poured billions of dollars into the attempted eradication of drug use and trafficking, with mixed but disheartening results. Drug use and accessibility have largely stayed unchanged, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services acknowledges that in the past decade, drug use has increased among nearly every age group. The government has little to show for its 35-year investment in fighting drugs. Recent changes in federal financial-aid policy make the War on Drugs especially relevant to students. The potential loss of financial aid in the event of a drug conviction is an excessively condemnatory action, and a dubious one considering the ethical state of other aspects of government. Students face the prospect of a draconian punishment for the use of substances often considered less harmful than their legal and regulated cousins. An action of such finality can do irreparable harm to the educational path of a student. The government's other Wars on Nouns (poverty, crime, terrorism) have all had mixed results. No problem has been totally eliminated, but at least we can see some modicum of progress in each. But the War on Drugs has been an almost total failure, with regression across the entire spectrum of the effort. The expected difficulty of a task should never be a reason for dissuasion from that task, and the challenge of a goal should not prevent all work toward that end. The War on Drugs springs from the noble ideal of improving our nation's health and lifestyle, but the time to heed Friedman's advice is here. The War on Drugs has failed, and a new course is needed. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake