Losing the War on Drugs

I think supporters of the War on Drugs must be, well, on drugs.

We can no more "defeat" controlled substances than Brer Rabbit could hope to subdue the tar baby. If governments were really serious about it, why not restrict hydrochloric acid imports into South American countries? You can't make cocaine without it.

A panel of three federal judges in Sacramento, CA recently ruled that prison overcrowding deprives inmates of adequate healthcare. The justices might reduce the prison population by up to 57,000 inmates, i.e., "open the gates."

The Justice Dept. says 52% of all federal inmates were sentenced on drug convictions. If you include people who were arrested drunk or stoned, or trying to get money for same, that number could be 80%.

Drug abuse impact outside the penal system is even worse. Consider an example from an LA Times series, "Mexico Under Siege." Santiago Meza Lopez was arrested as the "pozolero" (hole digger) who dissolved the bodies of victims for the Arellano Felix drug cartel. He admits packing 300 bodies into barrels of lye, casually concealing remains on a hillside outside Tijuana.

The powerful, diamond-studded hand of Mexican drug traffickers reaches far into our borders, deep into what we consider our "safety zone." Earlier this month, Starr County Sherriff Reymundo "Rey" Guerra was arrested for alleged participation in Mexico's Gulf Cartel. He would not be the first Sherriff to succumb to such temptations.

And if you haven't heard of the Zetas, eventually you will. According to Jane's Information Group, they are the armed forces of the Gulf Cartel, formed from "army defectors possessing considerable military expertise, training and experience in combat, guerrilla and urban warfare." The Zetas has declared war on our Border Patrol.

It may be optimistic to think Mexico is on the verge of collapse into a narco-state. The demise of the Mexican Republic may be a fait accompli that we retail news consumers just can't see yet.
Even the most conservative-minded among us must see that simple prohibition and imprisonment is not working. Prohibition only works if you can enforce it.

The Drug Enforcement Agency's Website provides plenty of cause for a sober review of US drug policy. DEA Stats & Facts says, "The amount of cocaine available in domestic drug markets appears to meet user demand in most markets, without observable shortfall." Meanwhile, DEA annual budget has increased more than 260% since 1991 from $875 million to $2.3 billion.

A long-term study, "Monitoring the Future" (linked on the DEA site), is operated by the University of Michigan. It suggests several prevailing trends: 1. Many, but not a majority of high school seniors try pot. 2. The great majority of 18-yr-olds disapprove of regular marijuana use. 3. Interdiction efforts are almost useless.

Comparing such data with DEA budgets since 1991 suggests that usage of all kinds of illicit substances, from alcohol to heroin, remains pretty flat no matter what taxpayers spend on law enforcement and swelling prison populations.

Try this for drug policy hypocrisy: Kellogg's "fired" Michael Phelps after a photograph of him smoking marijuana hit the press. What if it were a beer bong? Actually, in 2004, Phelps, then 19, was arrested for drunk driving. Kellogg's never balked at that, even though drunk driving consistently kills about 40,000 people in the US every year.

Wasn't organized crime the reason we amended the Constitution to reverse alcohol prohibition? What is the practical difference between consumption of alcohol and marijuana? Is that distinction enough to justify expending massive human and financial resources on interdiction programs that are ineffectual at best and possibly futile?

About 40% of US citizens over 18 have tried marijuana. That statistic stays pretty consistent year-to-year. Do we expect to change that or should we treat marijuana like alcohol and focus our attention on the 3% cocaine problem and the 1% heroin problem? If pot is a "gateway drug," which is debatable, can that be because pot dealers usually also offer harder substances?

2008 Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says we are incarcerating people who just need rehab. Whatever the solution, we must find a way to take the money out of the drug trade and stop funding organized crime. We should consider turning the DEA into the Drug Education Agency and diverting enforcement resources to border security before the alliance between drug cartels and terrorists gets too strong.

It is time to re-think our wrong-headed approach to drug abuse. The truth is, a War on Drugs can only be won by drug lords. We must accept that and act on it. Tell Congress to earn their pay and address drug abuse realistically.