AN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

The war on terror reverberates in every waking moment within the minds of
every legislator in Washington. There is another war, however, that has
been fought vigilantly for decades by the United States government and has
successfully foiled all actions taken by the government since it was
declared during the Nixon administration. "The War on Drugs," as it is now
commonly referred to, is seen by many leaders in this nation as a
worthwhile undertaking that has gone terribly awry. In the year 2003, the
federal government spent roughly 19 billion dollars, in addition to 20
billion spent by states and local governments, to fight this war.
Therefore, roughly 39 billion dollars per fiscal year is now spent by U.S.
authorities to continue the failing war on drugs.

The gains in this field are quite ominous, as the U.S. Drug Enforcement
agency caught a mere 1 percent of worldwide production in their most
successful year. At the border with Mexico, it has been estimated that, in
order to have any effect on the drug trade, U.S. officials would have to
increase the amount of drugs seized at the border by nearly 1400 percent.

Therefore, despite the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars that have
been poured into this moral crusade, there has been roughly no impact on
the drug problem.

Recently, Alaska proposed on their state ballot a measure to legalize
marijuana possession, production, and sales.

This piece of legislation was struck down by the people of Alaska, for
being too progressive. While I would not have voted for the measure, I
would do so because I do not consider it progressive enough.

Legalizing marijuana, while resulting in more open prison cells (as roughly
730,000 arrests related to cannabis were made in the U.S. in 2000), it will
do nearly nothing to put an end to the violence and fraudulent practices
that plague the drug world. Hence, I believe that the fastest and perhaps
only way to see victory on the battlefield of the war on drugs is through
decriminalization of nearly all substances. While this opinion appears
radical and divergent from mainstream American views on narcotics, I fear
that if these steps are not taken, drugs will continue to be an epidemic,
infesting American lives, and chewing away hundreds of billions of dollars
that could be put to better use elsewhere.

Decriminalizing drugs will have the immediate effect of opening up jails
and relieving the financial burden of keeping millions of Americans
incarcerated. If the government begins to take control of the drug trade by
producing these substances and constructing government facilities where
Americans may receive them in a safe manner, overlooked by nurses and
medical staff, the effect on the war on drugs would be immense.

Not only would South America have a total shift in government policy due to
a sharp decline in power of the cartels, but we could expect far less
inflation on the prices for these drugs, which means far less violence from
those who intend to purchase them. With the government producing these
substances safely and efficiently, producers around the world will find the
world drug trade market bankrupt, while the federal government will be
making a modest profit, to be used in education, or perhaps to fight terror.

A valid response to this proposal is that Americans would believe that
simply because these drugs are legal, specifically narcotics, users would
be apt to abuse and consequentially become addicted to these substances. My
reply would be that purchasing high-caliber munitions for unknown
intentions is legal, as well as holding Aryan Nations marches in Madison
Square Garden, thus issues that are legal are not necessarily morally correct.

Second, I believe reasonable Americans would still see cocaine and other
substances as threats to healthy lifestyles, despite their legality.

Nevertheless, if they chose to take these drugs, the government would be
aware, since these drugs are being taken at government facilities, and
individuals may be enrolled in programs to help them with their addictions,
and many Americans may gradually begin to live substance-free lives.

In order to see any gains in the ongoing war on drugs, Americans must be
willing to consider unconventional means to attain their goals.

The past decades have revealed that our current methods have failed to
achieve significant gains, and unless future policies are drastically
altered, this nation will face more of the same. Decriminalization,
although viewed as a radical measure, may be the only tactic available for
this nation to conquer its relentless chemical foes, so that one day the
stars and stripes may wave over the desolate white-powdered battleground.