End the War on Americans

End the War on Americans

by Mark Luedtke

The news gets worse every day. President Obama widens the war against the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Backed by Hugo Chavez, FARC terrorists ravage South America. Mexican drug cartels wage a low level civil war in Mexico that's overflowing into the US. They control our southern border, dominate illegal immigrant drug gangs, and corrupt our police, prosecutors, judges and politicians. Drug murders and kidnappings skyrocket. Paramilitary-style drug raids kill innocent Americans. The US has more people in prison per capita than any other country in the world. The land of the free is more like the home of the incarcerated.

What if I told you I have a policy that would disarm the Taliban, FARC, the Mexican drug cartels and drug gangs? It would reduce crime in America by 2 million arrests per year, save thousands of American lives each year, and free 1/3 of Americans from jail. It would generate $50 billion in tax revenue, just for starters. Surely no reasonable person would reject a policy that generated such fantastic benefits. That policy is to end the War on Drugs.

The War on Drugs funds the Taliban, FARC, the Mexican drug cartels, the illegal immigrant drug gangs and the drug dealers. We'll never be able to overcome these problems as long as we're funding both sides. Every time we escalate the War on Drugs, we enrich and empower the bad guys.

It's no coincidence that the rise in SWAT teams parallels our escalation of the War on Drugs. Every time heavily armed and armored cops bust in the doors of Americans in the dead of night and somebody gets killed, we see the human toll in our own country. According to the American College of Emergency Room physicians, in 2005 about 112 million Americans used an illegal drug at least once and more than 35 million used an illegal drug in the previous year. Every American looks like a criminal suspect to a cop, and that attitude feeds the us versus them mentality that leads to so many abuses of police power.

The War on Drugs is a war we can never win because it's a war against Americans, but somebody forgot to tell Obama's drug czar who recently claimed, “We're not at war with the people in this country.” Tell that to Charlie Lynch who's awaiting sentencing in Federal court for selling medical marijuana that's perfectly legal in California. Tell it to Ryan Frederick who's on trial for murder for shooting home invaders who happened to be local police on a dark of night, no knock drug raid. Tell that to Laquisha Turner who died during an FBI drug raid.

The War on Drugs is also doomed to fail because it's immoral. If Michael Phelps wants to do a bong hit after winning eight gold medals, that's his right. If George Bush wants to do a line of cocaine before a date Saturday night, that's his right, and it's acknowledged by the 10th Amendment.

Prohibitionists tell us that using illegal drugs keeps users from success. The last 3 presidents, not that I'd hold any of them up as role models, used illegal drugs and managed a modicum of success. Winning eight gold medals isn't too shabby either.

Prohibitionists claim that legalizing drugs will lead to a dramatic increase in addicts and violence. They said the same thing about legalizing alcohol, but just the opposite occurred. Decriminalization of drugs in the Netherlands and Portugal have shown the opposite also. It seems that the people in danger of becoming drug addicts are already addicts. 100 years of the international War on Drugs hasn't stopped that, and we never will. We can't even keep drugs out of prisons.

Prohibitionists say that children will get addicted if we legalize drugs. I haven't noticed any alcohol pushers lurking around local schools, but about half of American students have tried an illegal drug before they graduate high school. Reality is like a laser burning through prohibitionist propaganda.

Finally, prohibition is unconstitutional. It took a constitutional amendment to ban alcohol. It would also take one to legally ban drugs.

As we learned banning alcohol, the black market is far more destructive than the drugs themselves, but despite the overwhelming evidence telling us to legalize drugs, we're no closer to doing it today than we were 40 years ago. During an online town hall meeting in March, President Obama dismissed out of hand the idea of legalizing marijuana, instantly alienating a significant portion of his young supporters.

But state governments are more responsive to the people. 14 states including Michigan have legalized medical marijuana, and President Obama promised to end Federal raids for medical marijuana in states where it's legal. A recent Ohio poll showed that 73 percent of Ohioans favor allowing doctors to prescribe medical marijuana, so lawmakers may allow medical marijuana in Ohio. I wonder about the other 27 percent. What kind of people think they have the moral and legal authority to stand between a doctor and patient and deny any medical treatment? Maybe some fear somebody might smoke medical marijuana for enjoyment. God forbid.

But the biggest opportunity for legalizing drugs comes from the economy. It's a common misconception that reason was responsible for ending prohibition. The politicians of both parties, police, lawyers, prosecutors, judges and jailers who benefit from prohibition won't give up their power and compete for productive jobs in the private sector simply because of reason. Prohibition was repealed because FDR's New Deal needed money, and taxing alcohol supplied it. Obama's new New Deal is also starved for money. Governor Schwarzenegger recently suggested legalizing marijuana to ease California's fiscal disaster. Unfortunately, 61 percent of Ohioans oppose legalizing marijuana, but only 45 percent oppose it strongly. As our economy continues to flounder, look for the movement to legalize drugs to grow - out of government greed, not concern for people.

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Drug kidnappings in Phoenix. FARC and cocaine. FARC and Chavez. Heroin, Taliban and al Qaeda. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). 2 million Americans are arrested for drugs each year. 100 year anniversary of the international war on drugs. Obama's drug czar doesn't realize the US is waging war on Americans.

"About 112 million Americans reported using an illegal drug at least once in their lives in 2005, and more than 35 million had used an illegal drug in the past year." Laquisha Turner. Ryan Frederick. Charlie Lynch. Schwarzenegger suggests legalizing marijuana. Great Depression leads to repeal of prohibition.

Poll supports legalizing medical marijuana in Ohio. Poll results. Fewer people in northeast Ohio,
the state's bastion of modern liberalism, support legalizing medical
marijuana, legalizing all marijuana and support legalizing gay marriage
than in the state at large. Maybe northeast Ohio isn't as dominated by
liberals as we tend to think. Demographic breakdown
of medical marijuana poll. "Overall, 73 percent of Ohioans say they
favor (either “strongly” or “somewhat”) allowing Ohio doctors to prescribe medical marijuana,
while 27 percent oppose." What kind of people are those 27 percent? Do
they want to keep surgeons from using scalpels too? Unfortunately, 61
percent of Ohioans want to use the power of government to impose their
will on everybody else in the state by keeping marijuana in general
illegal.

Obama alienated part of his constituency when he dismissed legalizing marijuana.

Cato publications on the war on drugs. Cato welcomes a shift in policy
away from enforcement and toward treatment by Obama's drug czar (with
nice links), but it's way too little. Obama is about the most timid and
fearful radical leftist in history. Everything he proposes is
boilerplate radical leftism - nothing actually bold. Probably a result
of severe narcissism. That timidness might just keep him from rolling
tanks down our streets when his policies start crashing around our
ears. Obama's Nixonian in a way. Obama won't be limited by the rule of law, but the need to be loved and praised might limit him. The success of drug decriminalization in Portugal. The average potency of marijuana continues to increase. The world may come to and end.

Obama's drug czar (I hate that term): "Regardless of how you try to
explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on a product,' people
see a war as a war on them," he said. "We're not at war with people in this country." Has this guy had his head up his ... I mean in the sand for the last 30 years?