Isn’t it about time we called the troops home, and declared a defeat? No, not Iraq, although I’ll admit I don’t have a good answer as to what to do about that. I’m talking about the War on Drugs. The U.S.’s War on Drugs officially started with Nixon in 1969, continued through the Carter and Reagan administrations. As someone born in 1975, I can remember all of the anti-drug teachings in school, how marijuana was bad and it will make you kill your parents. How rock music is the Devil’s work, and so on.
Kind of a failed policy, don’t you think? Billions of dollars wasted on an unwinnable war. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Here’s some news from MSNBC today about how cocaine prices are falling in the U.S.. If you’ve taken Economics 101, you know what falling prices means: increased supply flooding the market, or decreased demand. I highly doubt that the demand for cocaine or any drug has decreased. I do however believe, that even after $5 billion USD spent in Columbia alone, that the cocaine production there is skyrocketing.
Here’s an article on how today’s pot is stronger than before. Umm, isn’t that the point? You know they say you don’t want a cheap, watered-down beer? Doesn’t the same hold true for weed?
And doesn’t it just drive you nuts that some of the most damaging substances you could put in the human body are perfectly legal to buy in nearly any consumption amount you want, provided you’re 18 or 21? Don’t believe me, read this article that talks about the most dangerous substances. Both Cannabis and Ecstacy come in less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco! I believe weed has enormous medical benefits, and I believe that Ecstacy has enormous mental health benefits.
Isn’t it time that we perhaps did something other than “stay the course” on the U.S. Drug Policy? Isn’t it time for change? The fact of the matter is that no matter how much you educate, people will still put harmful things in their body. Millions and millions of people do it everyday but consuming alcohol or inhaling tobacco. Those items are taxed and regulated by the Government.
I got an idea! Why not make everything legal, but highly regulated? Tax revenue from the sale of these items could provide a windfall of cash for a U.S. economy strained by wartime spending. In the beginning, yes, I believe you’re going to have a flux of people who go out to buy weed just because the law says they can do so legally now. That, however, will taper off as the initial “excitement” of it dies down. The regular pot smokers will still buy weed, only this time the public can benefit from it by the increased tax revenue earned from each sale.