Published LTE - Dean Becker

If we are to make drug prohibition work, we must eliminate both supply and demand. As long as one exists, so will the other. In a perfect world, with perfect morals, no such quandary would exist. However, we live in a less than perfect world that our leaders try to mold to suit their personal morals, their religious desires.

Just as the world was waking to the realization that drug prohibition is a doomed effort, inflicting several times more harm than the use of the drugs themselves, we find ourselves now battling “narco-terrorists” for dominion of the planet.

Each year in the US, 400,000 people die from tobacco use. 200,000 die from alcohol related illness. 100,000 die from legal drug prescriptions that were filled improperly. 15,000 die from black market, impure and unknown drugs. Nobody has ever died from using marijuana.

What is the compelling interest? Who benefits from drug prohibition? Why do we give hundreds of billions every year to criminals, drug lords and our terrorist enemies? Energy companies fear biomass fuel from hemp. Pharmaceutical companies fear patients growing their own pain medication. Tobacco and alcohol companies don’t want to compete with our gardens either. All of these industries make enormous contributions to both political parties.

I do not use heroin or cocaine. I do not want my children or my loved ones to use these drugs either. However, I would rather see drugs legal, my children outside prison walls and my countrymen free to grow, smoke, ingest and otherwise imbibe any substance they desire so long as they control their behaviors, their actions within our society, just as we do now with alcohol.

There are religious extremists in both Afghanistan and the United States that will do whatever they think necessary to cleanse us of our “sins”, if the money is right.

Sixty years later, we have again empowered our enemies. We facilitate these terrorists; we fill their coffers with monies sufficient to buy missiles, guns and bullets. Through our war on drugs, we have again contributed to our own destruction.

Following the recent suicide bombings, House Speaker Dennis Hastert formed a task force to combat drug trafficking, which he called “the financial engine that drives many terrorist organizations.” Rather than ending the 87-year-old drug prohibition, (which would leave our enemy with a worthless stockpile of vegetables,) the efforts of the task force have already managed to raise the price of drugs, to further empower our enemy.

Sixty years ago, liberty was assured by the acumen of our great leaders. Our current leadership remains steadfast in their desire to fill the pocketbooks of criminals, drug lords and our terrorist enemies.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert has formed a task force to combat drug trafficking, which he called the financial engine that drives many terrorist organizations.

Hallelujah! Hopefully this will mean an end to the 87 year old drugs prohibition. However, in that representatives Mark Suder and the now infamous Gary Condit will be on the task force it might instead indicate an escalation of the drug war.

It has been estimated that the actual cost of production would demand a "retail" price for all drugs that are now deemed to be illicit at 4 billion dollars per year. The U.S. federal and state governments spend approximately 40 billion dollars per year to fight the importation, use and abuse of drugs. Because of the interference in the drug trade, the retail value of this same stockpile of drugs rises to 400 billion dollars per year. Some of this profit winds up in the hands of terrorists like Osama bin Laden.

Should we spend additional billions to try to stop the use of drugs by arresting additional millions of non-violent citizens of our own country? Perhaps we should focus on more important work like finding and destroying violent people like bin Laden.

Medical studies done in the U.S. and abroad indicate there exist better alternatives to the American drug policy. In western Europe, methadone maintenance programs and decriminalized marijuana have shown themselves to be useful alternatives. If this congressional task force can see fit to look at any of the recent medical studies they will see there is minimal risk to ending prohibition.

Even without the harms inflicted on us by mad terrorist bombers, we have suffered enough from this failed war on drugs. By ending prohibition, we will immediately free 40 billion dollars and thousands of agents that can be used to fight terrorism. Taxes and cost savings on prisons and police will provide even more funds. More importantly, we will immediately dry up a large portion of the income stream that empowers our enemies.

People have always and will always use drugs, be they prescribed, farmed, fermented or brewed. To think otherwise, to quote New Mexico's Governor Gary Johnson from a recent debate with the DEA's Asa Hutchinson, is "like pissing in the wind."

It's time to judge people by their actions, not by our notion of what they might do if they take a substance we disapprove of. Let the cops catch terrorists, robbers, rapists and murderers. Let the doctors take care of those who abuse drugs.

Let the terrorists go to hell. End prohibition.

Dean Becker, 11215 Oak Spring, Houston, Tx. 77043, 281-752-9198 Home, dean@unvarnishedtruth.org