WAR ON DRUGS A LOST CAUSE

Each day, I drive out of the dark hills and into the city of
Huntington when I go to class. Each day, I pass trailer park meth labs
and flop house apartments as I wriggle out of the trees and on to
Marshall's campus. Drugs are ubiquitous; there's no escaping it.

The War on Drugs isn't a war, it's one group of people sandbagging for
a flood while another group is swimming in the water. They're never
going to leave, and it'd be in our best interest as a society to learn
to live with it rather than against it.

The drug market is capitalism at its finest and very worst: A service
provider selling a product to a consumer who has the cash and desire
for the goods. Often times, producing and selling drugs is a last
resort when making a modest income just isn't going to happen. This is
the case in undeveloped areas such as South America, North Africa and
the vast majority of Asia. These people have no other option of making
any sort of substantial living other than growing poppies, cocaine or
cannabis. There's no way any amount of regulation or enforcement is
going to make them stop pushing the product if it puts shoes on their
feet.

Once the shipment has left whichever shady port it's being hauled
into, it takes a stimulant retail associate -- known in some circles as
a drug dealer -- to deliver the product to the costumer. This link in
the chain is unbreakable as well because of our own consumerist
pressures. In an age where the middle class will burn through eight
credit cards for a BMW and hardwood flooring, extra cash on the side
selling an illicit product is easy money to make. As Westerners, we're
programmed to constantly buy; we'll take additional income from source
provided it equips us with the means to buy that next nice thing.

Needless to say, most drugs are physically and/or mentally addicting
and will always have a steady consumer base as long as they are
available. And they'll always be available. Always. I'm not a fan of
it, but it's inevitable. We're going to lose the war on drugs.