Pubdate: Tue, 24 Apr 2012
Source: San Marcos Daily Record (TX)
Copyright: 2012 San Marcos Daily Record
Contact:  http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/800
Author: Cliff Schecter
Note: Cliff Schecter is the President of Libertas, LLC, a progressive
public relations firm, and the author of the 2008 bestseller "The
Real Mccain."

WAR ON DRUGS UP IN SMOKE

Towards the beginning of the cult classic "Dazed & Confused," a high
school senior named Slater, inquires of baby-faced freshman Mitch,
"are you cool?" What Slater is really asking--in this ode to 1970s
youth and the counterculture--is do you smoke pot?

Ahh the 70s. Back before the likeness on Grover Norquist's Bedtime
With Bonzo night light (some guy named Reagan), kicked the kooky,
corrupt and thoroughly counterproductive War On Drugs into high gear.
And poof, this country suddenly lost its collective mind, suffering a
lapse in judgment that vaunted well past ill-advised and just beyond
"they have weapons of mass destruction" to what might best be labeled
"the mind of Ted Nugent."

As we pass the mythic, cultural marker of 4/20, it might be worth
examining what we've wrought.

By any measure - economically, morally, democratically - we are far
worse for allowing special interests to take us down this road to
perdition. It has spiritually hollowed us out, while erecting a
prominent prison culture that makes The People's Republic of China
seem like Woodstock.

This was made all the more evident recently when a Harvard economist,
Jeffrey Miron, released a study showing this exercise in dunder
headedness is costing us $13.7 billion a year. Writer Ernest A.
Canning points to some statistics reported by Democracy Now!, which
make clear that "over the last 40 years, more than 45 million
drug-related arrests have cost an estimated $1 trillion."

Hmm, I can't think of any better ways we could have spent this money,
can you?

In fact, I know some neoconservative types who seemingly kneel down in
prayer a few times a day to make supple offerings to the graven idol
of The Balanced Budget. You'd think they might notice numbers like
this and do something to save money being wasted on American citizens
who take their mind altering substances via the beer bong, as opposed
to a funnel, filter or by simply reaching into a medically approved
prescription pill bottle. Although, as Congressman Paul Ryan has
discovered when weighing raising taxes on ascots versus slashing
social programs, it's just so much easier and more fun to cut
preventative care for kids than to honestly tackle real problems.

Sadly, things have gotten no better under President Obama than they
were under his predecessors. Back when he was running for President in
2008, Obama claimed to support the "basic concept of using medical
marijuana for the same purposes and with the same controls as other
drugs," He even went further, claiming he would "not be using Justice
Department resources to try to circumvent state laws."

Yet, that is exactly what he has done, using the very same Justice
Department to raid over 100 marijuana dispensaries during his term. It
is shameful really.

The wasted potential of those who will go to our jails instead of our
colleges (although at least Rick Santorum won't shake his head in
not-so-subtle disapproval at their obvious snobbery) will not only
cost these individuals and their families dearly, but our society as a
whole. Much like with our health care system, when we ignore or
compound problems in the short term, they always come back to haunt us
later as the Ghost of Christmas past--and not the cool one played by
Buster Poindexter in "Scrooged" either.

Listen, if you don't want to believe the facts, just take a gander at
what Pat Robertson had to say recently on this issue (yes, I too am
stunned I just wrote that). He took a moment off from blaming
hurricanes on abortion rights to come out for marijuana legalization.
Hey, I'm not saying I think his every neuron is firing in what one
might call a fecund direction, but on this one, politicians should
listen. And more importantly, they should pay attention to the people
of this country, 47 percent of whom favor marijuana legalization,
while only 42 percent oppose it.

Because if we continue with the half-baked idea of expanding this war,
we will also continue to watch our financial future, moral fiber and
civil liberties go up in smoke. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D