Pubdate: Tue, 16 Dec 2008
Source: Charleston City Paper, The (SC)
Copyright: 2008 The Charleston City Paper
Contact:  http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2400
Author: Jack Hunter
Referenced: Ethan Nadelmann's The Wall Street Journal OPED 
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n1092/a03.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?179 (Nadelmann, Ethan)

THE WAR ON DRUGS IS A WAR ON COMMON SENSE

Just Say No ... More

When America declared a war on poverty in the 1960s, it was believed 
that more assistance by the federal government would lead to 
eradicating the problem. What we got instead was bigger government 
and an army of dependents for whom welfare became not merely a 
helping hand but a way of life. And today, even though the government 
has done little to actually help the poor and has even made things 
worse, many still believe the war on poverty must continue by 
offering even more of the welfare that helps to perpetuate it.

When America declared a war on terror at the beginning of the 21st 
century, it was believed that massive intervention in the Middle East 
by the federal government would lead to eradicating the problem. What 
we got instead was bigger government both home and abroad and a new 
army of terrorists for whom the U.S. invasion of Iraq was their 
primary reason for joining Al-Qaeda. And today, even though 
government actually did nothing to stop the growth of global 
terrorism and even made things worse, many still believe the war on 
terror must continue by offering even more of the intervention that 
helps to perpetuate it.

And it is this same mindless, reckless, and fruitless government 
repetition that perpetuates America's war on drugs. Since beginning 
the war on drugs in the 1970s and escalating our efforts in the '80s, 
this battle has done virtually nothing to reduce drug use and has in 
fact created more battles. Writes Ethan Nadelmann in The Wall Street 
Journal, "Consider the consequences of drug prohibition today: 
500,000 people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails for nonviolent 
drug-law violations; 1.8 million drug arrests last year; tens of 
billions of taxpayer dollars expended annually to fund a drug war 
that 76 percent of Americans say has failed; millions now marked for 
life as former drug felons."

Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, concludes, 
"All this, and much more, are the consequences not of drugs per se 
but of prohibitionist policies that have failed for too long and that 
can never succeed in an open society."

In the case of marijuana use, it is hard to imagine how the benefits, 
if there are any, of punishing pot smokers outweigh the cost of doing 
so. In my own experience, I don't think I've ever had a conversation 
with a police officer who actually believes the war on drugs is 
sensible or successful on any level. It's a waste of time for law 
enforcement, a waste of money for the taxpayer, and a waste of 
dignity, reputation, and possibly freedom by those who choose to use 
a drug that arguably is no worse than alcohol.

As with our wars on poverty and terrorism, instead of looking at the 
tragic results of the drug war, we praise the good intentions. Do I 
honestly believe that many good, decent, patriotic Americans think 
welfare will actually help the poor? Sure, they do and so do many of 
our government leaders. Do I honestly believe many good, decent, 
patriotic Americans think our efforts in Iraq might actually reduce 
terrorism? Of course they do, and so do many of our government 
leaders. Likewise, when welfare is criticized as counterproductive, 
the critics are typically accused of being against the poor. When our 
interventionist foreign policy is criticized as counterproductive, 
the critics are typically accused of being against the troops, if not 
their country.

Both are arguments that skirt the primary issue and refuse to address 
the root problem.

Those who believe the war on drugs is counterproductive are no more 
anti-sobriety than welfare critics are anti-poor or war critics are 
anti-American. The war on drugs is a bust - an abysmal failure that 
does nothing to solve the problem and does much to create others. The 
war on drugs is impossible to win, not because America hasn't fought 
it hard enough or needs to fight harder, but because good intentions 
are no match for the immutable realities of human nature.

Or as Nadelmann writes, "The Americans who voted in 1933 to repeal 
prohibition differed greatly in their reasons for overturning the 
system. But almost all agreed that the evils of failed suppression 
far outweighed the evils of alcohol consumption."

Hopefully - finally - Americans can now agree that our many, endless 
wars against common sense will give us common cause to find more 
uncommon solutions. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake