AMERICAN GOVERNMENT LOSING THE 'WAR ON DRUGS'

With two major wars taking place overseas, many Americans ignore the
war taking place within our borders.

The phrase 'War on Drugs' was first coined by Richard Nixon in 1971.
American's ongoing battle with narcotics, however, can be traced back
to congressional action taken nearly 100 years ago. Financial data
shows we've spent more than $400 billion on the drug war since the
1970s.

Even after spending $50 billion this past year, the struggle appears
to be going nowhere.

Draconian drug laws have helped America incarcerate a larger
proportion of its citizens than any other nation in the world. While
Americans only account for 5 percent of the world's populace, they
make up more than 25 percent of the world's inmates. More than 160,000
drug users have been arrested this year, according to Drugsense.com.
Those numbers are expected to excede 2 million arrests by next year.

Racial discrimination and social oppression are two major conflicts
critics observe. American surveys indicate blacks make up 14 percent
of illegal drug users, yet 36 percent of those arrested are black and
63 percent of those imprisoned are black. One of the key battlegrounds
of the war takes place on college campuses.

Nearly 20 percent of college students ages 18-22 have experimented
with drugs, according to Reason.com.

Though the proportion of students who drink remained constant from
1993 to 2005, daily marijuana use more than doubled, and use of other
illegal drugs have skyrocketed 52 percent, according to a National
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse study.

Most universities have enforced stricter policy and increased their
drug awareness programs to help allay these results. But many of these
steps, according to one student group, have muddled the thin line
between personal protection and civil rights.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), a non profit organization
founded in 1998 by students from George Washington University and
Rochester Institute of Technology, intended to change the way the
government views drugs as a criminal justice issue and a public health
issue.

Their mission statement reads: "[SSDP] is an international grassroots
network of students who are concerned about the impact drug abuse has
on our communities, but who also know that the War on Drugs is failing
our generation and our society."

Over the past decade, the organization has expanded its role, offering
more than 150 chapters nationwide, and a chapter opened on the LSU
campus last November.

"The long-term objective for SSDP at LSU is to transform the way our
university deals with drugs and drug use. We want the university to
recognize that the worst thing it can do to someone with a drug
problem is hampering their ability to get an education," said local
SSDP president Sam D'Arcangelo.

Aside from impeding proper education, SSDP also believes the drug war
is legally deranged.

"The War on Drugs is unconstitutional. Our lawmakers 90 years ago knew
it was unconstitutional to ban a substance outright, which is why
alcohol prohibition required a constitutional amendment."

"Forty-two percent of Americans admit to having tried marijuana at
least once. Does this make 42 percent of our country criminals? More
people die from aspirin overdoses everyday than have ever died from a
marijuana overdose in the history of the world."

Besides explicit efforts to denigrate drug users, D'Arcangelo contends
there are far greater reasons students should feel compelled to take
action.

"Drug policy reform is not a matter of allowing 'potheads' to smoke in
peace, it is a matter of human rights. It's also a matter of civil
liberties. Right now they tell you what you can put in your body. Who
knows what they'll be telling you not to do next?"

SSDP makes it clear they do not support eliminating drug regulations
entirely. Instead, they suggest we distinguish between 'hard' and
'soft' drugs, favoring decriminalization rather than asphyxiating
addicts' ability to receive help. They also contend school programs --
like D.A.R.E -- counterproductively spread fallacies about drugs,
specifically marijuana, and inhibit kids' ability to learn facts
rather than fabrication.

Many Americans have expressed similar support. The most popular topic
on President Obama's campaign Web site dealt with 'Ending Marijuana
Prohibition".

There's no doubt our government has been financing a war within our
borders.

A war, quite frankly, we're losing.

Prohibition didn't work. And neither will despotic regulation of
drugs.

By trying to interfere, they've obfuscated civil liberties and the
principles of freedom they're supposed to defend.

The truth is: the more authority Washington holds, the more freedoms
are inevitably sacrificed.

Thousands of complex 'solutions' have been offered to curtail drug
related problems, but none offer the pragmatic simplicity of Texas
Rep. Ron Paul's proposal:

"You want to get rid of drug crime in this country? Fine, let's get
rid of all the drug laws."