Pubdate: Tue, 14 Jun 2011 Source: Augusta Chronicle, The (GA) Copyright: 2011 The Augusta Chronicle Contact: http://chronicle.augusta.com/help/contact Website: http://chronicle.augusta.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/31 Author: Shayne Felberg ENDING WAR ON DRUGS WOULD HELP ECONOMY Want a good way to start pushing our economy back in the right direction? The answer to the question is to end the spectacularly failed costly war on rugs. When is the U.S. government going to finally realize that it can't legislate morality? Many people believe the answer to solving our drug problem is to simply tell people to say "no" to drugs -- but after being in practice for decades now, the evidence shows this has failed miserably. People have been doing drugs for thousands of years and it's never going to stop. There will always be people who do drugs and those who become addicted. Didn't we learn from the mistakes of alcohol Prohibition in the 1920s and '30s? It didn't work then, and drug prohibition certainly isn't working now. The failed drug war has cost the U.S. taxpayers more than $1 trillion. The real tragedy is the violence associated with the drug war and illegal drug trafficking. Drugs are more readily available and the drug war has created a black market; gangs in every U.S. state; and powerful violent cartels south of the border and in other countries. The laws have done more damage to this country than the drugs themselves. We have created more criminals out of drug users/addicts who should really be treated as medical patients. Wouldn't we be better off spending the drug war funding on education, drug treatment and rehabilitation instead of failed law enforcement and incarceration? And not having to build more prisons? We need to re-evaluate our position on drug use in this country. I firmly believe we should decriminalize all drugs. Legalize marijuana and regulate it like alcohol in regards to the law, and create an atmosphere that doesn't stigmatize the drug user. I would never advocate anyone use dangerous hard drugs such as meth, cocaine, heroin, etc. But people will choose to use such drugs and become addicted. Countries in Europe have tried different strategies that have reduced the problems associated with drug use. Why can't the United States. take these same approaches? And what are the ramifications of manufacturing, importing and selling the drugs here in America? Wouldn't that create a new industry? Jobs? Tax revenue? And stop funding the violent cartels and take away their power? Shayne Felberg Augusta - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.