A Lost Cause: The War on Drugs

In the mid-1990's, the United States government proposed a war on drugs. One of the immediate effects of the war on drugs was the millions of common citizens supporting the U.S. government with their tax-rate increase to help pay for terrorist and organized crime units. Another effect was the government officials, the media, and even the drug dealers themselves, craving power over the people and wealth for themselves. In 1983, President Reagan introduced a lengthy list of goals that he wished to accomplish. For example, President Reagan wanted to decrease drug-related deaths; the census for 1983 shows over 3,900 drug-related deaths (1). The War on Drugs was also supposed to decrease criminal convictions, but current census shows that the U.S. has the highest amount of people behind bars; an estimated 2 million (1). One of the reasons our War on Drugs never succeeded was because of the "zero tolerance" policy that is strictly enforced by law enforcement agencies. Some of the obvious solutions to our society's problem is to experiment with other policies rather than "zero tolerance," eliminate the power-hungry, and educate ourselves on what really happens.

One solution would be to experiment with other policies, such as the Swiss PROVE program. The Swiss government has the same set of goals as the U.S.; the only difference is that they achieved all of their goals, which shows that they have to be doing something right. In their PROVE program, the Swiss "attack from four directions-Law Enforcement, Prevention, Therapy, and Harm Reduction."(3). During the first six months, criminal offensives decreased by 60% in the PROVE program. However, there are specific guidelines by which participants must abide by. For instance, the drug user has to be at least 20 years old, have a history of drug dependence dating back at least 2 years, and other treatments must have failed. Injections of Heroin are given only under supervision-no needles leave the clinic, and for all this the drug user was charged $8.50 a day and they had to stay out of trouble.

Another solution to the problem is to eliminate the power hungry. After we extinguish corrupt politicians, they immediately become powerless. Then, when "drugs are legalized (with control) the dealer also loses power and income." (2). And without this "drug-related crime, violence, and deaths would naturally drop."(1). However, citizens have to be careful who they diminish and who they vote into power. This should be a very tedious decision on the voters' behalf, but is well worth living without the power-hungry.

My final suggestion to try and fix our country's problem is to educate ourselves so that we know the difference between propaganda and the facts. "there is nothing as threatening to those in power, as an informed people."(2). However long it might take a person to learn that difference, it would still be worth knowing, even if they never use it years afterward.

In conclusion, our government is wasting our own time, and money just so that they can become wealthy and powerful, using the War on Drugs as their cover-up. We, as American citizens, should be concerned so much as to bring the War on Drugs to a screeching halt, by educating ourselves on the difference between propaganda and facts, eliminating the power-hungry, and experimenting with other policies.

Works Cited:

1. Gaver, John. The War on Drugs: Solution or Problem? Part 1. 29, May 2001.
2. Gaver, John. The War on Drugs: Solution or Problem? Part 2. 3, June 2001.
3. Gaver, John. The War on Drugs: Solution or Problem? Part 3. 1 July 2001.