Article

 

 

The War On Drugs

 

 

The War On Drugs...


IS A DISMAL FAILURE!


It was a Failure when it Started... It is a Failure Now... and it will Always Be a Failure!

 
History has Already Taught Us This Lesson! It Was Called "Prohibition"!
 
Prohibition... in Whatever Form It Takes... Will Not Work! The Reason Is Simple... You Cannot Legislate Morality! The Solution is In Education... Not Legislation!
 
"Alcohol" is One of The Most Destructive Drugs Used Today! Should We "Outlaw" It for Adults? Absolutely Not! Why? Because It Is Not "The Drug" that is The Problem... but The Way It Is Used! The same goes for All Drugs!

 

"Prohibition is by all means the corrupt and intentional way to control the masses."

           Abe Lincoln

(address to congress on his opposition to prohibition

 


This is Not To Say that "Drugs"... whether Legal or Illegal... are Not A Problem. They Definitely "Can Be" a Personal and Social Problem. And they Definitely Need Societies Attention and Active Concern. And that is Even More Reason to End This Insidious War On Drugs; It Is Not Solving or Improving Anything... but Rather Making Life For All Americans Much Worse! It Will Continue to Do So...

But when Society Makes Drugs Illegal... especially Benign Natural Substances like Marijuana... a Whole New World of "Problems" Exist where there Previously Weren't Any. That is Exactly What Happened with Prohibition... and Today We Are Only Making The Same Mistakes Over Again. Considering that "Drugs" like Marijuana have a Far Less Potential for Personal and Social Harm than Alcohol or Tobacco... It Is Even More Senseless.

Yes... "Meth" (Methamphetamine) is a Serious Social Problem! Probably More Serious than The Average Information Deprived and Institutionally Numbed Citizen can Ever Imagine. It Is Destroying People and Families and Communities. It Has To Be Dealt With! But Are We Dealing With It In The Right Way through The Legal System and Law Enforcement? If you Use "Results" as an Indicator and Barometer... The Overwhelming Answer Is NO! There are Better Alternatives to Our Social Ills and Problems... and Legislation Is Not One of Them!

What The Average Person Doesn't Realize... Is That The "Drug War" is Not Promoted and Maintained Primarily for The Purpose of "Ending Drug Use and Abuse"... and Putting Away The "Bad Guys". In Many Ways... The "System At Its Core" does not want to Solve The Drug Problem. It Especially Does Not Want The Drug War To End... Under Any Circumstances! Why? Basically "Money and Power". There Probably is No Greater Cancer to Our Society and Nation as The Many Intricate Tentacles of Government Bureaucracy Involved in The Umbrella Organizational Label Called "The Drug War"...

More Relevant to Our Interests as a City and Area in Terms of Developing Agricultural Related Business and Technology... is The Relationship of Marijuana and Industrial Hemp. Please refer to The Issue Article on Industrial Hemp...

In Keeping with The Line of Thought concerning The Drug War... I want to Specifically Point Out The Incredible "Over-Reaction" of Government through Law Enforcement and Programs such as The Drug War in Relation to Marijuana. Why Is That??? The Reason is NOT That Marijuana is Such a Harmful Substance. Scientific Studies have even determined that Caffeine is "More Harmful" than Marijuana. Any Law Enforcement Officer Who Knows Anything about Marijuana will tell You It's a Legal Fiasco. They Will Also Tell You The Only Real "Problem" with Marijuana Comes with It Being Illegal. When You Make "Criminals" out of Otherwise Socially Integrated and Well Adjusted Individuals... You Are Doing Everyone an Injustice!

Please Check Out Some of The Links Below. You Will Find that It Is Actually from The Ranks of "Law Enforcement" that Much of The Criticism of The Drug War is Being Voiced... and Activism Is Being Initiated. It Is Sad that Our Law Enforcement Personnel are Being Put "In The Middle" of This Aberration of Justice. It Is Also Important That We Give Them All The Support They Need to Do There Job with Professionalism and Integrity and a Sense of Sanity.

The Problem with Drugs is So Multifaceted and Complex... It Is Hard to Do The Subject Justice in Such a Few Short Paragraphs. And Perhaps "Legal Drugs" Is More of a Social Problem than Illegal Ones. But It Is Vital that We Do Not Lump The More Serious Drugs like Meth in The Same Category as Marijuana. To Do So Makes it Much Harder to Effectively Deal with "Real" Drug Issues and Abuse!

Each "Drug" is Made and Kept Illegal for Differing Reasons. Some of The Substances are Important to Various Industry to Keep Illegal... Like Marijuana (because of Its Link to Industrial Hemp). While Government is The Power Behind The Legislation Feeding The Drug War and Prohibition... In Many Cases It Is The Corporations that are Pulling The Strings! For Drugs like Cocaine and Heroin... Well... I Really Don't Think You Want to Know The Truth Behind The Trafficking of Those Drugs. At least... I am not going to Address The Issue here.

 


"The greatest enemy of the truth is very often not the lie... deliberate,
contrived, and dishonest, but the myth... persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allow the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought"

- John F. Kennedy
 

 

I Don't Know to What Extent The Little Egypt Communities have a "Drug Problem"... but, like just about Every Community in Our Nation, I am Sure We Do. The Question Is... How Do We Resolve It? How Do We Effectively Deal With It? How As Communities... Can We both Serve The Needs and Interests of Our Citizens... and at The Same Time Support Our Law Enforcement Personnel?

As Public Servants and Officials of The Communities of Little Egypt... How Can The Mayor and The City Counsel Be Responsible to Its Citizens... with Professionalism and Integrity... and at The Same Time Help Resolve Our Drug Related Problems???

How Can We Not Be  Pawns of The DEA and "WOD"???

The Only Way... Is Through Community Involvement and Dialogue. All Our Social Institutions have to Learn The Truth... and Help Educate Themselves and The Public. And perhaps Most Importantly... We Have to Give Kids (and Adults) Reasons to NOT Get Involved with Drugs in The First Place. Society has made Tremendous Progress with "Legal" Drugs like Alcohol and Tobacco... through Education and Social Programs. The Same can Be Done with The Still Illegal Drugs.

 

 

 

For a Better Informed & Involved Public...

 

 

Lonnie J. Burris

Activist & Concerned Citizen

 

 

"Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding"

 

 Albert Einstein

 

 

 

Related Issues:

 

BioFuel

Economy
Education

Marijuana
The Media

Animal Rights
Human Rights

Industrial Hemp

Ethics & Morality
Orthodox Religion

Political Corruption

Homeland Security

Corporate Corruption

Legislating Morality

The Media

 


 

Resources:

 

DrugLibrary.Org

 

DrugWarFacts.Org

 

StopTheDrugWar.Org

 

American Civil Liberties Union

 

 

 

Relevant Links:

 

Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?

 

California: Oakland Voters Approve Nation's First Marijuana Business Tax

 

Why Midwestern Small Towns Have Been Ravaged by Meth Addiction

 

Should We Legalize Marijuana to Close the Budget Deficit?

 

The Drug War in Six Acts

 

Love Thy Neighbor: The Immorality of Marijuana Prohibition

 

Censored on TV: Why Are Some Stations Keeping Pot in the Closet?

 

Kevin Spacey Is the Latest Pot-Puffing Shrink to Hit the Movie Screens -- Why Is This a Trend?

 

The Supreme Court Resists Drug War Hysteria

 

Hey Progressives: Why Don't You Care About the "Drug War" Like You Care About Other Issues?

 

Don't Blame Pot -- There's No Such Thing as a "Gateway Drug"

 

Obama's Drug Czar Call for End to 'War on Drugs'

 

Will Obama End the War on Drugs?

 

The Morality of Marijuana

 

Don't Give Salvia the Reefer Madness Treatment

 

America's Schizoid Pot Culture -- 4 in 10 Have Smoked It, and Millions Are Still Getting Busted

 

Pot vs. Booze: A Former Police Chief's Take

 

Legalizing Pot Makes Lot of Cents for Our Cash-Starved Government

 

Stop Subsidizing Mexican Drug Gangs

 

It's the Pot Economy, Stupid

 

Obama Has the Chance to Be Another FDR -- He Can End the Era of Marijuana Prohibition

 

Marijuana Reform Is Part of the Progressive Agenda, So Why Are Obama's Drug Cops Already Making Pot Raids?

 

Obama's Choice: Sane U.N. Drug Policy or the Same Failed War-On-Drugs Routine?

 

Michael Phelps Has No Business Apologizing for Taking Bong Hits

 

Five Ways We Can Build a Movement to Stop This Idiotic War on Drugs

 

Sanjay Gupta: What the Next Surgeon General Doesn't Know About Pot

 

Why Head Shop Raids Are Unfair and Unjust

 

More 10th-Graders Are Smoking Marijuana than Cigarettes

 

If Obama Is Pro-Science and Honest, He'll Put the Kibosh on the Drug War

 

Obama's Drug Czar Pick: Will We Ever Get Passed Having a War on Drugs?

 

The Prospect of Drug Reform in Obama's Washington

 

A Smarter Way to Deal with Pot than Arresting 20 Million People

 

Vancouver's Radical Approach to Drugs: Let Junkies Be Junkies

 

Pot Wins in a Landslide: A Thunderous Rejection of America's Longest War

 

The War on Pot Is a War on Young People

 

Lies in the War on Marijuana (Video)

 

Stoners Before the Stone Age: Getting High Is as Old as Dirt

 

As the Violence Sours, Mexico Signals It Has Had Enough of America's Stupid War on Drugs

 

LSD Cured My Headache

 

Progressive Voter Guide to Drug Issues

 

The Drug Wars Latest Tally: 872,721 Pot Arrests, an All Time High

 

Marijuana Could Be a Gusher of Cash If We Treated It Like a Crop, Not a Crime

 

New Drug Survey Demolishes Drug Czar's Claims

 

Keeping the Psychedelic Dream Alive: An Interview with Rick Doblin

 

The American Alliance for Medical Cannabis

 

CIA-Drugs and the Corruption of American Society

 

Saying No to Propaganda

 

It's Time to Legalize Drugs

 

Should Marijuana Be a Medical Option

 

America's Love-Hate Relationship with Drugs

 

Prescription Drugs, Not Illegal Ones, Killed Heath Ledger

 

America Behind Bars: Why Attempts at  Prison Reform Keep Failing

 

Anti-Pot Propaganda Reaches a Whole New Level of Lameness

 

Calling B.S. on The Idea of 'Marijuana Addiction'

 

Overdose Death Rate Surges: Legal Drugs Are Mostly to Blame

 

Cocain Planes Cross Paths with Corporate America's Green Movement

 

Former Surgeon General: Mainstream Medicine Has Endorsed Medical Marijuana

 

The Drug War: Still Racist After All These Years
 

CNN's Lou Dobbs Is Clueless When It Comes to the Drug War

 

How Long Does an Experiment Need to Continue Before It's Declared a Failure?

 

How Long Does Drug Prohibition Need to Continue Before It's Declared a Failure?

 

The World Health Organization Documents Failure of U.S. Drug Policies

 

Emerging from the Drug War Dark Age: LSD and Other Psychedelic Medicines Make a Comeback

 

Jim Hightower on Pot -- Sharing His Thought on Pot, That Is

 

Should Barack Obama and Cindy McCain Be In Jail?

 

 

 


For More Relevant Links...
Google "War On Drugs"