A DISMALLY FAILING WAR ON DRUGS

So we continue in our nonworking, nonwinnable, dismally failing, insane
war on drugs. Until people in this country realize the political and
financial hypocrisy of keeping such drugs as marijuana illegal and
classified as a Class 1 drug, we will continue to see young lives
ruined, millions of Americans incarcerated, and the deaths of tens of
thousands of Americans and Mexicans.

The Mexican cartels are killing each other, police officers, military
personnel, reporters, children, and politicians because they want
control of the approximately $40 billion a year drug flow into the
single largest market in the world, the United States. The war is not
only limited to Mexico but has expanded to Guatemala, Honduras, El
Salvador, and Brazil.

Whether America recognizes it or not, La Familia, the most vicious
Mexican cartel, has already established 30 gangs in our country.
Approximately 240 gangs have been established by other cartels.

How long will it be before war breaks out between our street gangs,
now the lower level distribution arm of the drug trade, and the new
gangs being established by South Americans?

In spite of the reality of the demand for mind-altering drugs, the
federal government stands by its criminalization of marijuana, even
though Americans continue to show their desire to purchase and use it.
Attorney General Eric Holder said that "even if the voters in
California make the state the first in the nation to legalize
marijuana, the federal government will continue to enforce the
Controlled Substances Act."

Although California voted Proposition 19 down, it has not changed the
fact that marijuana is the single largest agricultural product in that
state. Mendocino County, almost as large as Connecticut, is supported
in large part by marijuana. To eradicate marijuana in that county
would be to shut down the county.

American drug warriors continue to make headlines with the seizures
they achieve, with 20 tons of marijuana being recently found in a
tunnel. What we are not told is how long the tunnel has been active
and how many additional shipments have made it through.

We also do not see seizures of weapons flowing to Mexico from the
United States, paid for by drug money. Mexico has seized 90,000
weapons in the last four years, while the United States claims 10,000.
The DEA says they are European-made weapons, although that clashes
with Mexico's assessment. But, really, what difference does it make
where they are made? It is how they are getting there that matters.

We have tried prohibition once before, making perhaps the most
violence-producing drug, alcohol, illegal in 1920. When the violence
surrounding alcohol became out of control, prohibition was ended in
1933. We knew then that all of the problems surrounding it would not
simply go away, but decided to deal with them rather than the violence
that surrounded keeping it illegal.

Marijuana, despite the lies and misconceptions surrounding it, is a
much more benign substance than alcohol. Alcohol is known to be
responsible for 85,000 deaths in this country, and an unknown number
of serious illnesses, such as liver disease and wet brain. Cigarettes
are the most deadly legal drug in this country. Worldwide, 5 million
people die from smoking; 600,000 people die as a result of second-hand
smoke

In contrast to these figures, not one death can be attributed to the
use of marijuana alone. Yes, mixed with alcohol, it has led to
automobile accidents and other causes of death, but not when used alone.

Five state-funded studies have recently been completed in California
by the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of
California, San Diego, headed by Dr. Igor Grant, a psychiatrist. The
results show that cannabinoids may be either an adjunct or a
first-line treatment for reducing muscle spasms associated with
multiple sclerosis and pain caused by certain neurological injuries or
illnesses. These studies are the first clinical trials conducted on
the medicinal benefits of marijuana in the United States in over two
decades. These studies should result in the removal of marijuana from
the Class 1 category, as they show that it does have medicinal
properties, a fact known by various societies for hundreds of years.

From 2002 to 2008, adults from 55 to 59 increased their usage of
marijuana from 1.6 percent to 5.1 percent. I wonder who is sending
them the wrong message?

The writer is a retired Manchester police captain and a speaker for
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.