Drug War Long Lost
Categories: Addictions, Health, Stupidity, Ideas, Current Events
Carter terms their recommendations "courageous and profoundly important," explaining that the report describes the "total failure of the present global antidrug effort -- in particular our own 'War on Drugs' declared a full 40 years ago."
Evidence of Failure: "Global consumption of opiates has increased 34.5%, cocaine 27%, cannabis 8.5%(from 1998-2008).
And as I wrote years ago in Sweet Compulsions: A Wry Tale of Music, Multiculture and Mayhem, a novel nobody would publish:
Half a million killed by substance abuse each year in the U.S.
Half of all U.S. crimes related in one way or another to drugs.
And the main effect of conventional law enforcement efforts to reduce drug use is to drive prices up. Thus, these efforts have not only failed but may indeed contribute to the problem. Increased costs of narcotics lead to the commission of even more crimes. And the increased cost of drugs means cash for the taking, which leads to the corruption of ever more individuals of authority.
Could it be that addiction itself is the enemy, aided and abetted by a corrupted system?
Among Commission Recommendations: "Substitute treatment for imprisonment for people who do no harm to others."
And a change of pace at On the Edge
Positively,
Carolan
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