Just say NO! to the War on Drugs...

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/latin-america-just-says-qnoq-to-the-war-on-drugs

Many of the main Latin American governments have made it clear they are tired of waging a losing war against the illegal drug cartels. This war sponsored primarily by the USA for the last 25+ years has been one of the costliest losing battles the USA and its "allies" have ever experienced...yet it drones on and on without any perceivable end in sight. This war kills thousands every year in the Western hemisphere and burns up billions of dollars in funding that could be used elsewhere for better purposes.

Yes, I have written more than my share on this theme...but I keep pounding relentlessly on this subject because of the insanity of how a majority of Americans continue to support this aggression and devastation...both within their own inner-cities and more significantly, in foreign countries where so much of our money and manpower is being wasted in this losing battle. It is taking some more intelligent leadership outside of the USA to call the question and point to the obvious while Washington DC and Hollywood continue their fantasy power trips of false representation of this war to the general public. This war has not started in the jungles of Colombia or ports of Mexico, but rather in every home and bedroom where a hopeless individual is escaping their own reality.

As this article above so aptly explains based on the report by the Organization of American States,

“Prohibitionist policies and the war on drugs have intensified violent conflict in the region,” and human rights have suffered. The ‘drug war’ has taken a huge toll in the Americas, from the carnage of brutal drug-trafficking organizations to the egregious abuses by security forces fighting them... Governments should find new policies to address the harm drug use causes while curbing the violence and abuse that have plagued the current approach. Human Rights Watch recommends decriminalization of personal drug use."

As we have previously pointed out on this subject, it seems quite obvious to those who want to be informed that this war has in no way stopped the flow of drugs from the "third" world to the "first world" countries that consume the majority of them. It is amazing to me how long the USA government has been successful in jamming it's dictatorial views down the throat of so many worldwide governments, yet it also seems obvious to me that "the world" has prostituted its hypocritical positions on the subject based on billions of dollars in USA support for the "war".  Why don't more American citizens realize how much this war is costing them in manpower and tax dollars that could be better spent for myriad domestic problems that plague our country? Why do we always buy into militaristic, empirical methods of getting our way on a subject such as this when legalization, standardization of products and humane treatment of the sick addicts would be much more effective?  Just like we do with highly addictive but legal barbiturates or psychoactive substances prescribed by medical practitioners, yet abused by millions every year and the cause of thousands of deaths annually...all substances should be the right of any person to take as long as they do not affect another person's life...and perhaps under medical supervision though that can be a "racket" of its own.

As I have often said, drugs are just a symptom of the problem. The root of the problem is the sense of hopelessness and lack of education or instruction of the masses. Addictions such as alcoholism, compulsive eating, gambling, smoking etc are activities and problems that have existed for thousands of years within mankind. Now that we have a few billion extra people on planet earth, the problem is more obvious and growing. Yet, with this warlike approach to it, instead of helping or treating the victims...we are killing them off by the tens of thousands both in brutal turf wars and the loss of life based on abuse and overdoses. And I include all legal and "illegal" drugs as the cause and effect of this phenomenon.

I find it ironic that these institutions are behind a war that it could be argued they are the fundamental cause of.  I think people resort to drugs and escape primarily based on their lack of hope and support from the institutions that control their everyday lives.  Most drug use I am convinced is in reaction to being controlled and told what to do every day of their lives and a lack of personal freedom or control. During times of extreme battle between free societies and the governments that seek to control them, you see increased use of these "illegal" substances. Just in the last century we saw increased use of drugs and alcohol during some of the most restrictive times such as in the Prohibition era of the 1920s and 30s as well as during the unpopular Viet Nam War of the 60s and early 70s.  During these most repressive times of government intrusion on personal freedoms, you see increased use and escape to these substances. The "gay 20s" and "hippy 60s-70s" were proportional reactions socially to the prohibitions and authoritarianism of governments and other institutions they did not agree with. So basically...the drug war is actually having the opposite effect from the intention they promote, and...it is fueled primarily by a combination of our tax dollars, and the illegal "spoils of war" from monies and possessions of the sellers and users of illicit drugs alike. Now we have clean  AND dirty money in our system, based on what our institutions define as legitimate or "clean" business. This whole mad cycle needs to be changed because it is out of control and will only lead to increased incarceration of the masses and restrictions in personal freedoms...determined by a few powerful people or governments. This is a global war unlike any other we have experienced.  It is the masses against the governments over them.

Again, I must state that I am in no way advocating the use or abuse of drugs...or any other substance such as alcohol, food or natural herbs.  We must face the fact that many GOOD substances and activities are abused and not good for you if done in access.  Drinking, eating, sex, gaming...all things in moderation can be useful or enjoyable...but all these things in excess or used with guilt can be destructive and cause significant  mental/emotional problems.

An advanced society will allow individual liberty even when an individual is contrary to the majority. True freedom/liberty is experienced when an individual can live differently than the rest without being persecuted or limited in their comings and goings. Unfortunately, the masses still evolve controlled by their institutional programming and strive to become just like each other or force conformity on those who are of different creed, race or even consumption habits. It becomes a deadly game, almost to holocaust levels, when the global institutions want to control the minorities...whether that is gay people, women, poor people...or those who want to smoke "weed" or consume coca.  We have turned a blind eye to this global holocaust and devastation of whole countries for a war nobody wants.  It is time to take a different approach and not allow ourselves to be duped by this false and unjust "war on drugs".  No one can win accept the suppliers and the self righteous institutions trying to control them.  We need legal, safe supplies of all substances and stop blaming those substances and suppliers for all our problems.  They are the symptom, not the cause, of our society's ills. What we really need is renewed commitment to individual freedom and RESPONSIBLE living which leads to massive social and psychological reconditioning of the human spirit.  Governments cannot do that. Only families and localities can.

Here's to freedom and responsible living...by just saying NO! to the war on drugs...

Addendum 7/2/13

Here is an article from today underscoring how ludicrous the war against illegal drugs is compared to the growing problem of deaths from "legal" drugs...

Overall, more men still die from overdoses of painkillers and other drugs; there were about 23,000 such deaths in 2010, compared with about 15,300 for women.One striking finding involved the age of women: The greatest increases in drug overdose deaths were in women ages 45 through 64.