We all lose with failed war on drugs
Your voice: Paul Green
Cincinnati Inquirer
Suppose you got a letter from your congressman with these details of a government program he was proposing:
1. It will cost $500 billion over 30 years.
2. Over those 30 years, it will not accomplish a single one of its goals.
Would you support such a program?
What I've just described is the modern-day war on drugs. Begun during the Nixon administration, this war has cost more than $500 billion, and has never accomplished any of its goals - keeping drugs out of the country; keeping drugs off our streets; or, most importantly, keeping drugs away from our children.
I attended Colerain High School in the late 1960s. At the time, there were few, if any, students using drugs. Today, 30 years and $500 billion later, our schools are awash in drugs. Last fall, I spoke to a group of seniors at Chaminade-Julienne High School in Dayton. The students were quick to let me know that they could easily get any drugs they wanted, including hard drugs. If this is the result of a "successful" policy, I'd hate to see a failed policy.
That the war on drugs is a failure is well known in the police community. According to Patrick Murphy, police commissioner of New York City and board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (www.leap.cc): "A 1996 Police Foundation survey showed that 85 percent of chiefs want major changes in drug policy; 60 percent said that law enforcement has not reduced the problem."
So no one who knows the facts about the war on drugs should be surprised by the headline in a recent Enquirer - "Three-year homicide rate rises; Chief ties 90% of drug deaths to street-level drug deals." What did surprise me was Councilman David Pepper's plan to combat this problem: "Focusing on crime 'hot spots'; pushing for more federal prosecution; and targeting drug activity." One definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. Pepper's strategies are the same ones that have been used for more than 30 years. And they have never succeeded.
I know the federal and state governments write the drugs laws. But it is the citizens of Cincinnati, and neighborhoods like mine (Northside), who must bear the brunt of the violence these laws cause. It is time for the mayor and council members to start speaking out about the failed and counterproductive policy called the war on drugs.
Paul Green is chairman of the Hamilton County Libertarian Party. |
