Putting an End to the War on Drugs

Originally published on the SC Liberty Blog on 4/11/09.

I am heartened by recent developments such as Eric Holder's decision to leave his hands off medical marijuana in California and Ron Paul's legislation to legalize hemp that is gaining support in Congress. But these are drops in the bucket compared to what is going on down in Mexico. Drug cartels have enormous power now and growing by the day. As it stands, those cartels exert more political and economic control than al-Qaeda and are gaining a higher body count. If anyone thinks that the answer to this problem is tighter enforcement of drug laws, they are deluded.

The cartels derive their power and muscle directly from the black market in drugs. Like mobsters during Prohibition, these criminals thrive in what amounts to a government created and protected racket. By outlawing drugs, the government assures that only the most violent outlaws will go into this business. The winners are the ones who are the most ruthless. Now, you have cartels assassinating police officers and political leaders and posting the videos on YouTube. Corruption rules the government in Mexico. Either through bribery or extortion, the drug cartels run the show in Mexico.

When will this madness end? I suspect it will happen when we see it cross the border into America in a big and public way. When DEA agents start getting bought off or whacked, American opinion of the drug war will change. It took the St. Valentine's Day Massacre to bring about the end of Prohibition, and that was just seven people.

Defenders of the drug war make all sorts of ludicrous claims in defense of their position. They say drugs will be everywhere if we legalize. I say that this has already happened. They say people will die of drug overdoses. Maybe, but do we really give a rip if fools get what they deserve? Better a druggie dying from his own habits than a citizen getting gunned down for the sake of a YouTube video.

The question I ask is this. Who are we fighting this war for? Who are we trying to save? Ultimately, the answer is that we are trying to save the lives of drug addicts and potential drug addicts. There are a large number of habitual and recreational drug users in this country whose insatiable demand is what is fueling the rise of these murderous cartels. This should make us stop and think a minute. Why do we spend so much money fighting the drug war in Colombia and Mexico when the problem is clearly a domestic issue? I have the answer to that.

The United States has developed a unique schizophrenia. We decry the very things we enjoy. We demonize obesity but eat our Big Macs. We despise smoking but continue to puff away. We feel guilty over having a beer. We have sermonizing preachers who decry the evils of sex and drug abuse, yet they indulge in those things as often as they can. Our champion against the sex trade was felled by his own demand for high dollar call girls.

Drugs are illegal in America because Americans can't own their actions and the consequences. They want the pleasures of these illicit activities, but they want others to bear the costs and responsibilities of these habits. In short, citizens die, and governments are corrupted to appease the guilt of the American people for having a good time. This is some sad shit.

The madness has to stop. The killing has to stop. We need to regain trust in our police officers. We need to admit that we like our drugs and take responsibility for our own actions. I see a few glimmers of hope on this, but I suspect that the body count has to get much higher and become more domestic before we decide to end this foolish war.

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