the war on drugs

with this being the topic in both of my classes this week, it has been on my mind.

i've written about the war on drugs before and our obsession with war and fighting.

but the war on drugs is the most absurd. because it's a failing war. it always has been. it's been thirty years and the war has had no significant impact on the the use of drugs. and everyone knows it.

politicians bring it up every election year. americans are scared, as they rightly should be, of drugs and violence. we continue to fight 'the war' because it makes citizens feel better to think that something is being done. done to protect them and their neighborhoods. but fighting a war on drugs is fighting each other. fighting american citizens.

and there's a price. over 2 million people incarcerated, with a disproportionate number of those in prison being minority. and poor.

and though i refrain from voicing my true opinions in class (or at least make it absolutely clear that it is my opinion only when i do), i will express it here. the war on drugs is dumb. i'm in favor of reducing drug use and the amount of drugs in the country, but current methods do not work. sending a drug dealer to prison is not going to cut down on the drug problem. someone else will just step up and take over his job.jailing people for posessing even small amounts of drugs will not make a difference. we've seen this to be true. and it's taking up valuable prison space that we need for violent offenders. not to mention the amount of drugs in prison. if we can't keep drugs out of prison, how do we expect to keep them out of the country? we need a new strategy. maybe education and treatment.

and another thing. we keep pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into this war, but how do we even define victory?

lastly, i recently discovered this new blog posting about our wars 'waged in vain' that may be interesting. i guess i'm done now.