This is the “War on Drugs.”

The is the “War on Drugs.”
by Z Zoccolante

There’s two popular ways of looking at drug addiction. The first is that these people are criminals and should be prosecuted. The second, views addicts as people that are sick and need help.

One of the most interesting things I’ve recently learned deals with America’s, “War on Drugs,” as it’s been deemed.

A brief history of the “War on Drugs,” in my own words:

Forty years ago, in 1971, President Richard Nixon announced the “War on Drugs,” claiming that drug abuse was “public enemy number one.” In 1972, the war on drugs was signed into law. What followed was the criminalization of all illegal drugs, with thousands of arrests and millions of tax dollars being spent on throwing people in prison and dragging them through the court system. The Office of National Drug Control Policy states that:

“The U.S. federal government spent over $15 billion dollars in 2010 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about $500 per second.”

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Someone is arrested for violating a drug law every 19 seconds, and a cannabis law every 30 seconds.” In 89% of the cannabis violations, it’s for possession only.

The prison population since 1995 has grown approximately 11,000 inmates, solely from drug law violations.

Yet forty years later into this “War on Drugs,” and 1 trillion dollars later, we’re no closer to an America without drugs or their abuse. The US is the #1 nation in the world in illegal drug use and has the largest prison population in the world (source).

On top of people being sentenced for small drug offenses, thus increasing our prison population, it’s noted that between 1980-2007 black people were arrested for drug law violations at rates of 2.8 to 5.5 times higher than white arrest rates, even though both white and black people use or sell drugs at the same rate.

This criminalization set up by Nixon, has also pushed the selling of illegal drugs into huge business opportunities for powerful drug cartels, made up of actual scary criminals. As Rafa Fernandez De Castro stated, quoting Osorio in an article on the legalization of marijuana, “cartels don’t play by normal business rules.”

“Cartels have a competitive advantage. They specialize in violence, and they will not hesitate to use it in order to enforce their product above better quality and other factors.” – Osorio

It’s said that between 30-50% of Mexican drug cartel’s money comes from marijuana alone.

From my experience in the world, a lot of people smoke marijuana. I can’t help but think what cartels each joint supports, and the many other cartels that deal in cocaine or heroin.

I’m not saying that addicts are innocent, because yes, we usually have that first choice. What I’m saying is that addiction is a complicated beast and unless we’ve been there we don’t know what it’s like.

If you look at pictures of addicts online – the meth mouth, the sores on their faces, the track lines down their arms, it’s not a pretty sight. I believe that if people were in healthy states of mind they wouldn’t choose this path for themselves. They’ve been reduced to someone who needs their drug. I doubt that when they were kids they dreamt of growing up to be this person.

Dr. Gabor Mate, whose Ted Talk is a must watch, says that trauma and loss are the blueprint for addiction. What makes us susceptible to having an addiction in the first place, are the underlying factors in our lives.

Of course, substance addictions then begin to affect the way our brains function.

If we’re going to follow the train of thought that addicts are sick and need help, then the system that America has in play doesn’t seem to be effective. It uses our tax dollars to punish and criminalize people who are sick, thus creating more trauma.

Instead, maybe we should be asking a more important question,
“How do we help people heal?”

Here’s the cool part. Portugal has stopped the criminalization of its “War on Drugs,” and it’s worth taking a look at.

Stay tuned next week to learn about Portugal’s brilliant and revolutionary solution to the drug war!

With Love,
Z :)

Other References:
Nixon’s ‘war on drugs’ began 40 years ago, and the battle is still raging