Think About It. The Price of the War. There’s a war on guns, poverty, terror, men, even women, I hear. Gambling is still illegal in most states, unless you’re in a river or on an Indian reservation. Please, no more war. Since the 21st Amendment, drinking alcoholic beverages is legal if you pay the tax. That further confused my Kentucky kin. Now drinking was legal but producing without paying the tax was punishable. Then came the big, expensive, life-losing, ridiculously incarcerating, useless failure, War.
In June 1971, President Nixon declared a “war on drugs.” Succeeding U.S. government leaders have intensified the battle until we are spending (deep breath) more than $51,000,000,000 each year. Did you count all the commas?
In the most recent year for which we have access to released records, nonviolent drug charges totaled 1.55 million. There were 749,825 people arrested for marijuana law violation alone.
That brought the number of Americans incarcerated in federal, state and local prisons and jails to 2,228,400. That’s 1 in every 108 adults, the highest percentage of citizens jailed in the world. Take a look.
Admittedly, the purpose of punishment is to limit use. That certainly has failed. It has however been a price-support policy for the suppliers with a resulting battle between them. And the result of that has been a deadly war of its own.
Rational arguments for punishing drug use or selling include: Driving can cause (perhaps deadly) accidents, use may be bad for your health or be the gateway to more damaging drugs. Certainly money spent on non-prescription ( or illicitly acquired prescription drugs) can be put to more worthwhile use.
We probably all have a list of things we wish others wouldn’t do. Own a gun, ride a motorcycle without a helmet, gamble, use bad grammar, drive too slowly. Make your list. That’s the reason TOBAL.
It seems to that if you must have a law on the subject, it should not punish for action, but for resulting damage or injury to others, if any.
As for me, I’m tired of all the wars, including the one on drugs, especially because of The Price of the War. Think About It.