Why the drug war is a misguided folly harming more than it helps.

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Recent U.S. strikes on drug smugglers are an escalation of bad government policy that began with the war on drugs in the 1970s. This war forgot the lesson of prohibition in the 1920’s, that anytime you ban something you get more of it. Banning something people want does not work. Prohibition created gangs that smuggled booze just as the drug war created the cartels. The more the government tries to control what goes on in society, history shows the worse the impact on society.

Let’s start with some of the core principles in the founding of the United States: Life, Liberty, and the right to pursue one’s happiness. The right to pursue one’s happiness includes the right to put in your body whatever makes you happy, whether it is alcohol or cocaine. A person has the right to know what they are putting in their body so drugs sold that are laced with other chemicals, like fentanyl, should be a criminal act. The government may warn you of the harm taking a drug may cause you, but it doesn’t have the right to stop you no matter how harmful to you the drug may be.

An argument is made that drugs lead to crime and people dying. Most people who do drugs don’t commit crimes (beyond the consumption itself which is illegal). Yes, some do, but everyone who does drugs shouldn’t be punished for what some may do. Does death occur from taking drugs? Yes, but that is the risk people take by doing drugs. Risk is a part of life and a person has the right to choose what risks they are willing to take. More deaths occur by government policy that keeps drugs from being tested, allowing for drugs laced with impurities and additives (like fentanyl) to be distributed on the streets. Society would be safer if there were dispensaries that sold drugs known to be free of these dangers instead of allowing the cartels to profit off of, and distribute, impure drugs.

Government drug policy leads to death, whether it is gang wars funded by drugs killing innocents in the community, militaries police going after drug pushers killing innocents like what happened to Breonna Taylor, or government attacking alleged “narco terrorists” without due process as there is no guarantee every boat attacked is carrying drugs. In addition, those “terrorists” attacked are only providing products for consumers who are willingly purchasing these drugs.

Humans have been using drugs since the beginning of time. As a matter of fact, Thomas Jefferson used Opium. Drug use will continue regardless of government policy. The key is to create policies that do the least harm when it comes to drugs. By creating a war on drugs the government drives up drug prices that fund the cartels, while making drugs more dangerous through impurities and additives that put more lives at risk. The government would do more good recognizing the demand for drugs will never disappear and focus on safe drugs in the market while providing care and recovery opportunities for those who wish to kick their drug habits.

Making drugs legal is the best way to attack the economic power of the cartels, weakening them while allowing those who do drugs to pursue their right to happiness in a safer, less threatening world. This would also lower the incarceration rate in the United States (one of the leaders in the world of putting its citizens in cages) allowing the United States to come closer to being the “land of liberty” while reducing the numbers of justice impacted citizens (families, children, communities), leading to a more free and just society.

Politicians use lies, myths and fear for power and profit. The fear of drugs and gang violence related to drugs propel politicians into power when it is the very policies they enact that increase harm to society. Law enforcement and its suppliers that weaponize law enforcement profit off the fear and dangers these policies create through an endless supply of tax dollars. For the United States to be a country that upholds its founding values while reducing harm to society the war on drugs must end.