By now, a majority of Americans realize the Iraq War has been a complete failure, in terms of defining a mission and carrying it out. But what about our "other war?" You remember, over twenty years ago, we declared War On Drugs. This was supposed to rid our streets of illegal drugs by making the penalty so severe that users would magically unaddict themselves, and the problem would be forever solved.

Unfortunately for those declaring this war, things didn't exactly work out as planned. Much as with the ill-fated War On Poverty, which certainly didn't wipe out poverty, the War On Drugs hasn't removed drugs from our streets, or even from our rural areas. In fact, drugs are more prevalent now than ever.

But what of the No Tolerance Laws? They've certainly filled our prisons with casual drug users. In fact, our prisons are now so full, judges are letting more serious offenders (those who were imprisoned without the "help" of some No Tolerance Law) go free, simply because there isn't any room for them. And I wonder: What percentage of our taxes must be going toward building new prisons to house all these drug users? In a way, I don't want to know.

Meantime, selling drugs is still the quickest way out of poverty. It sure beats getting an education. That costs money, and our government is increasingly unwilling to part with it for something so futile as an education. Heck, we have prisons to build!

In 1972, Senator George McGovern proposed decriminalizing marijuana, thereby ridding our prisons of the small-potatoes casual drug users, who (let's face it) weren't harming anybody. Heck, even if they drove while stoned, it's not as though they drove while drunk.

Since that time, a small but growing group of movers and shakers, including William F. Buckley, has advocated legalizing all illegal drugs. The idea is that without any profit to be made from selling drugs, the incentive to do so disappears. In this case, the best way out of poverty becomes That's right, an education! And the tax money saved not having to pay all those drug enforcement officials or build all those new prisons can be used for How about education tax credits? How about medical and psychological treatment for those who are addicted to drugs?

Let's acknowledge reality, folks. Decriminalizing and/or legalizing drugs would shut down international drug trafficking immediately, and allow us to focus our attention toward other matters. No, it would not affect the number of addicts, but then ending prohibition didn't affect the number of alcoholics either. It did, however, take the profit out of selling illegal substances, and that is exactly what the Anti-Drug-War faction proposes.

Learn more about this author, Andy Ray.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about A case to legalize drugs in America?
We want to hear your view. Write now!