THE WAR ON DRUGS IS NOT WORKING; A NEW APPROACH IS NEEDED

Morally there is little doubt the abuse of narcotics is wrong, and
scientifically there is little doubt it is unhealthy both physically
and mentally.

However, the way in which our government looks to shield society from
the dangers of illegal drugs may be lacking.

Richard Nixon coined the phrase "War on Drugs" back in the 1960s.
Since then, America has waged this war, but with little success.

The supply and use of drugs has not changed in any fundamental way
since then. In fact, the business of illegal drugs is bigger than
ever and more dangerous than ever.

The 701st wealthiest individual in the world for the year 2009,
according to Forbes Magazine, is Joaquin Guzman Loera. Senor Loera of
Mexico is not a telecom or oil tycoon -- he is a shipping tycoon,
specializing in drug trafficking, and worth over $1 billion.

For the year 2009, Mexico is reporting more than 6,000 drug
trafficking-related murders; 2,500 of those are in a border town,
Ciudad Juarez, where 7,000 have been orphaned and nearly 100,000
citizens have fled -- most across the Rio Grande into Texas. All of
this with 6,000 Mexican troops policing the area.

According to the "Monitoring the Future" study, drug use in the
United States is trending upward in the last two years. However, the
trend in the early part of the decade was slightly downward.
Nonetheless, there has been no fundamental change in the supply or
use of narcotics. The data and examples point to America losing its
war on drugs.

The notion of losing the war on drugs is troubling, especially when
our federal government spends approximately $19 billion on it for the
fiscal year 2009. And based off numbers from 1998, our state
governments will together allocate another $30 billion to the war
efforts. This data from Action America means we are spending almost
$1,600 a second on the "war on drugs" --which effectively started 40 years ago.

It seems pretty clear America's war on drugs is very inefficient and
not working. Our leaders need to examine new strategies both home and
abroad to shield society more effectively from narcotics.

A recent Wall Street Journal article stated that U.S. and Mexican
officals said off the record the biggest step against Mexican cartels
would be to "simply legalize their main product: marijuana," a cash
crop that accounts for over half of their revenue.

A United Nations study said profit margins are so inflated in the
drug trade that 75 percent of shipments would have to be stopped to
impact the profitability of drug cartels. Currently, efforts only
catch between 13 and 40 percent of shipments, depending on the drug.
It would seem 75 percent is unattainable, thus making the
interception of drugs a futile strategy.

Drugs are a terrible thing ruining countless lives and families.
However, international and domestic efforts are not working and are
very inefficient. It may be time for policymakers to look at
different ways to affect the supply and demand of narcotics.