LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT NATION'S DRUG LAWS

We are regularly asked to believe the federal government is helping us - in
war, through education, welfare, medicine, old age, etc. We are asked to
believe this on faith alone. Our leaders have taken many courses of action
that were disastrous in that they made the problem in question worse. One
such action is the "war on drugs" declared by President George H.W. Bush.

The reasons for the declaration of the war on drugs are many. We know about
the violence, the international connections, lost productivity, broken
families, and so on. Good reasons, but are we winning this "war"?

Unfortunately, no. Drugs are more abundant now than ever. Our federal
government, the prosecutor of the war on drugs is unable to keep illegal
drugs out of its own prisons. Violence and the social costs of drug abuse
increase every year. This "war" siphons resources from the private sector,
diverting them from their most productive uses.

Drug abuse can lead to a long list of physical and mental illnesses, both
to the individual and those close to him. But substance abuse is a social
problem and the heavy hand of government has proven ineffective at solving
social problems.

For perspective, parallel the war on drugs with Prohibition. During the
Prohibition period consumption of alcohol actually increased. Millions of
people lost respect for the rule of law. Thousands of legitimate small
businesses - wineries, breweries, vineyards and related business in the
local economy - were ruined.

But the booze business continued. Only during Prohibition, people like Al
Capone, who were willing to use violence, controlled it. Normal legal
business dealings require a certain level of peace and cooperation. The law
and a system of justice were in place to redress grievances. When that
system was made unavailable, violence naturally became standard practice.
In fact, the skilled use of violence became a hallmark of success among
this new breed of businessmen.

Then, as now, people tend to fixate on inanimate objects. Shallow thinking
tells us that if we just get rid of those objects, life will be good. But
history and common sense tell us that human demands will be met, on the
open market or the black market. While individual acts of violence against
innocents is always the fault of the aggressor, honest assessments of both
Prohibition and the current war on drugs show that it is the law, not the
substance, that promotes the culture of violence. Prohibition was a
disaster and was ultimately repealed. The current drug laws are just as
bad. While we may not be ready to scrap the drug laws in this country, it
is time to take a hard look at what works, what doesn't and why.