45 years ago in June, Richard Nixon declared a “war on drugs”. Like most Republican politicians who claim to be for a smaller, less intrusive government, Nixon embarked on a decades-long debacle that has turned into an exercise in futility. This failed program has cost hundreds of billions of dollars, has imprisoned hundreds of thousands of non-violent people who never harmed anyone (a highly disproportionate percentage are people of color) , and is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people south of the border. Just statistics.
The DEA has 11,000 tax-feeders in its employ, which like all federal agencies, makes the idea of abolishing it anathema to the politicians. Which is why the likelihood of it going away is about the same as the IRS or the DHS.
The CDC reported that in 2010 there were approximately 30,000 unintentional drug overdose deaths with the majority being LEGAL prescription drugs. There were zero deaths from marijuana. That means about a third of reported traffic accident deaths for that same period. Should there not be a “War On Cars” using the same rationale? If you consider what the EPA has done to the automotive industry, particularly the latest VW fiasco, you could make that argument, but that’s a subject for a different article.
A rational person would come to the conclusion that this is a failed policy and needs to be repealed. But as we know, politicians don’t do anything that could be considered rational. Every decision made by them is politically motivated and calculated. The populace has become so easily manipulated and so fixated on safety, those that rule us are able to continue with their liberty-robbing schemes carte blanche.
Matthew Heineman directed the recent film Cartel Land which documents the Autodefensa movement in Michoacán, Mexico. You can watch it on Netflix. It is a compelling account of brutality, sorrow and death brought on by the local drug cartels. It is difficult to watch. It invokes many emotions, mostly anger. There are scenes that will make you weep and other that make you want to vomit.
The movement, spearheaded by Doctor José Manuel Mireles, was an attempt to organize the local citizens to arm themselves in order to keep the Knight’s Templar cartel out of the towns and villages because the government was not doing it. In fact, it’s pretty clear the Mexican government is complicit in ensuring the cartel remains in existence. Not a whole lot different than the U.S. government’s complicity in the perpetuation of the illegal drug trade. A whole lot of people would be out of a job if drugs suddenly became legal.
The film is depressing and gives little hope of change. But what it does clearly point out is the fact that the problems occurring in Mexico are a direct result of the U.S. drug policy.
Most Republican politicians, and to be fair, many Democrats, continually pat themselves on the back about how they keep us safe from drugs and terrorists, when it is their policies that are the direct cause of the afflictions on us and our brethren south of the border. Have you ever wondered why we have the “War on Drugs”, “The War on Terror”, and the “War on Poverty”?
Randolph Bourne explained that, “War is The Health of The State“. It is not by chance the government refers to its exploits as a war. It is first meant to mask their true intentions, and then to enlist the support of the people who would normally not endorse the government’s contrivances.
John Henry Wigmore , one of the most influential jurists in American history explains that in wartime, “all principles of normal internal order may be suspended. As property may be taken and corporal service may be conscripted, so liberty of speech may be limited or suppressed, so far as deemed needful for the successful conduct of the war.” In other words, in wartime, the Constitution is a worthless scrap of paper. The awful truth is, as we unfortunately know, the Constitution has NEVER performed its intended purpose, which is to restrain government.
The “War on Drugs” is a war on freedom. It punishes innocent people and creates insidious black markets that that unscrupulous and dangerous men are more than willing to meet the demand of. Did we learn nothing from alcohol prohibition? Apparently not.
The U.S. has been reduced to a nation of sniveling cowards begging the government to keep them safe and provide their every need. Warfare and Welfare. What the people apparently fail to realize is, every time they allow the government to intervene on their behalf, they not only become less safe, they lose more of their freedom. And in the case of the “War on Drugs” and “The War on Terror”, other people lose their property and their lives as a result.