There’s more to it than meets the eye, of course. But even the smidgen we are permitted to know is enough to convince anyone that America is losing the “war on drugs.”
For 40 years, the most powerful country in the world has dedicated a huge chunk of its resources to fighting illegal drugs, and what do we have? This from AP today:
The rate of illegal drug use rose last year to the highest level in nearly a decade, fueled by a sharp increase in marijuana use and a surge in ecstasy and methamphetamine abuse, the government reported Wednesday…
About 21.8 million Americans, or 8.7 percent of the population age 12 and older, reported using illegal drugs in 2009. That’s the highest level since the survey began in 2002. The previous high was just over 20 million in 2006.
Drugs are winning the war.
The AP story quotes Mike Meno,of the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project, as saying:
“It’s time we stop this charade and implement sensible laws that would tax and regulate marijuana the same way we do more harmful — but legal — drugs like alcohol and tobacco.”
I can’t imagine why anyone would still oppose the legalization of marijuana, or ganja, as we Jamaicans call it. It’s already grown all over the place. You can even learn how to buy marijuana seeds online:
http://www.1stmarijuanagrowerspage.com/
Mexican growers routinely cross the border to establish marijuana farms in America’s national forests. (The photo above shows a member of the “Campaign Against Marijuana Planting” unloading marijuana seized in a California park.)
Obviously, controlling marijuana is about as impossible as controlling the weather.
But the charade goes on.
You would think that by now it would be sold at the corner store like cigarettes. That would bring the price down and provide the government with badly needed tax revenues. It might also discourage criminals from dealing in it; with availability going up, profits would go down.
The futility of this “war” is no secret. Time and again, articles and documentaries have spelled out the facts and reached the same conclusion: this is a war America cannot win. And yet, as Time Magazine reported:
Within the past 40 years, the U.S. government has spent over $2.5 trillion fighting the War on Drugs.
And that doesn’t include the expense – and the tragic effects on so many individuals and families – of incarcerating thousands of harmless drug users.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What’s really driving this ridiculous war? As I said, there’s more to it than meets the eye. But if you’re waiting for the government to tell you, it will be a long wait. The powers that be maintain their control through the use of the same simple formula that mushroom growers use. They keep us in the dark and feed us BS.
