The war on drugs has accomplished nothing. Strict laws, billions of dollars and an army of police officers have accomplished nothing. It just gets worse and we keep doing the same thing over and over again refusing to learn from our mistakes.
The government is failing because it is not their job. It's obvious that they are not qualified to deal with what is a health and education issue.
We live in a democracy and the laws are supposed to represent the views of the people. 10% of the country are suffering from addiction. They all have family and friends who I'm sure would prefer that those close to them do not end up in the criminal justice system. Who are we really protecting here?
The only people who are being helped by our approach is criminal gangs who profit in the same way that gangsters profited from alcohol prohibition in the 1920's.
Making heroin, oxycodone, morphine, cocaine and meth legally available would make the world a better place. Criminal gangs would lose the majority of their income, good people will not end up in jail and addicts will not have to break into your house to feed their habit.
"They" say that 90% of crime is drug related. That's a lot of expensive yet ineffective policing. Money that could have been spent on treatment which is currently prohibitively expensive for most addicts. Think $30,000 per month...
I know from personal experience that being an addict in America is horrific. People hated me. The doctors who had gotten me addicted wanted nothing to do with me. I interacted with dangerous criminals that would never have crossed my path. I had to drop $30k of my own money to get treatment because my Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance refused to pay. That was after I had spent more than $100k with the criminals I relied on when the doctors would not supply me.
It can happen to anybody. I was a businessman in a suit earning more than $400k per year.
It doesn't matter how you became an addict. Nothing will stop young people experimenting or doctors prescribing. One in seven have the potential to become an addict. It's a lottery and it could be you.
Once we accept that truth, our current method makes no sense. Young people are dying from dirty needles and overdoses (street drugs are not sanitary or well labelled). Criminals haunt whole neighborhoods and kill each other for turf. Our police officers are pre-occupied with a problem they can never solve at their level. Good people are in prison for what is essentially a mental illness. Remember, you can get addicted by legal means. In my case, I was prescribed OxyContin after back surgery. The doctors who gave it to me had no obligation to help me get off it and it's impossible to do it on your own.
We should make all drugs legally available and leave it to the individual to look after their own health like we do with tobacco and alcohol. Instead of policing, we should educate people on the dangers and the help available. Tobacco smoking for example is now on the decline thanks to education changing the publics attitude. Heroin on the other hand is making a big comeback.
If people want to kill themselves with bad habits, let them. If they want help, make it available. Put criminals out of business, save the tax payers billions and make the streets a safer place.
It goes against convention but anyone with a brain can see that convention does not work. It will just keep getting worse. Having been through addiction hell, I am the most anti-drug person in America and I say end the insanity.
If you disagree, think about your son, sister, brother or friend rotting in jail or living on the streets spiking their veins with dirty needles. Addiction can happen to anyone.
