The War on Drugs & The Prison System

"Despite spending more than $45 billion over the past 25 years and increasing the numbers of people imprisoned for drug offences more than tenfold, the federal strategy has failed to curb drug use. Drugs are cheaper and easier to get than ever"

--The King County Bar Association


For over 25 years, there has been an ongoing "war on drugs" being waged in America. Like most 'feel good' government initiatives, it is backed by people who are blind to the real problems facing this country. It is a simple matter of supply and demand. As long as there is a demand for illicit narcotics, there will be a supply. Until someone is willing to speak up and identify the real problem, it will continue unchecked. Throwing money at a problem, and claiming moral victory without this vital step will always end in failure.

According to the State Department's annual drug-trafficking report, a federal law took effect in 1985 authorizing the United States to penalize countries that do not control illicit narcotics production. While it would seem like this would be a rational solution to the problem, the actual effect has been that these same countries are now producing larger quantities of heroin, cocaine, marijuana and other drugs. In Afghanistan, for example, more than three years after installing a pro-U.S. government, opium poppy production continues unchecked.

Colombia is the source of more than 90 percent of the cocaine and 50 percent of the heroin entering the United States. Mexico is also a major producer of heroin, as well as methamphetamine and marijuana. Despite the continued efforts by the DEA to stop the smuggling of drugs into the country, they cannot compete with the drug cartels, which have almost bottomless funds. Whenever a major shipment of drugs are seized, it is gauranteed that there are dozens of other shipments that slip through unnoticed. The power that these drug cartels have can be traced directly to the laws in the US that make drugs illegal. This, combined with corruption of government officials, gaurantees a steady flow of drugs into the US.

The only viable solution that has been put on the table would be the legalization of drugs. This would not only dry up the cartel's funds, but would also free up vast amounts of cash that could be used for other law enforcement needs, as well as treatment and research into solving the problem of drug addiction. Instead of throwing away money on an unwinnable 'war'.

The main argument that is used against the idea of legalization of drugs is that it would be the same as saying that 'drugs are okay'. These people are not thinking realisticly, because making something legal, does not automatically make it okay. Alcohol and tobacco* are legal (*largely through the efforts of tobacco lobbyists), and yet they are to blame for a variety of social, health related, and other problems. What the proponents of drug legalization are really proposing is the decriminilization of drugs.

The prison overpopulation problem in this country has long been ignored, and will not go away without major efforts to get at the root of the problem. Besides drug offenses, a vast amount of violent and non-violent crime is related to drug addiction, and the direct result of the supply and demand issue that I discussed above. After legalizing drugs, release all first time non-violent drug offenders, and you have solved your prison overpopulation problem. Take the money being wasted on this sham 'war on drugs' and build rehabilitation centers and research facilities for finding ways of helping people with their addictions. In short, treat them like the sick people that they are, instead of making them into criminals.

Next Time: Choose Your Party Wisely