Why We Should Support the War on Drugs
"Marijuana never kicks down your door in the middle of the night. Marijuana never locks up sick and dying people, does not suppress medical research, does not peek in bedroom windows. Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could." - William F. Buckley Jr.
It disturbs me greatly that an increasing majority of Americans think the great pains taken to punish people for using drugs should be laid off. They've gained a lot of support for their views by deceiving people with flawed logic and facts taken out of context. Sometimes they point to cases like Portugal, where all drugs were decriminalized and drug abuse subsequently fell by fifty percent, or Mexico, where drug-related border violence was virtually nonexistent until the government started actually enforcing its anti-drug laws. I beg you, do not be deceived. We must continue to give our full support to the war on drugs because:
*Alcohol prohibition was such a resounding success, and since it hasn't been constitutional for decades we have to keep its spirit alive with the next best thing.
*It is our moral obligation to not let other people make unhealthy choices. Okay, so it doesn't actually work because anyone who wants drugs can still get them anywhere in the country, but it's the principle that matters. We must not abandon our principles!
*Without it, the government wouldn't be spending enough money on stuff. That would be devastating.
*It protects our law enforcement agencies from wasting too much of their time and resources on petty criminals like burglars, rapists, murderers, and sex traffickers.
*We have to make sure the prisons we worked so hard to build are never empty. Since the United States has 7-10 times as many prisoners per 100,000 citizens as most other developed countries, and more than half of federal inmates are in for drug convictions, we're obviously doing a great job!
*Richard Nixon invented the war on drugs to target black people and hippies who threatened his power, and the disproportionate percentage of black people still incarcerated for drugs is obviously... um... never mind.
*Most people who become severe addicts were abused as children. They obviously deserve to be punished and ostracized from society for trying to escape from their pain and loneliness.
*How else are the Mexican drug cartels supposed to stay in business and continue making obscene amounts of money and committing atrocities against civilians who look at them the wrong way?
We must continue to stand for what's right. We must continue to fight the war on drugs. And we should fight with baby missiles.
Now, for no particular reason, I shall fill the remainder of this page with Bloom County comic strips.
*Alcohol prohibition was such a resounding success, and since it hasn't been constitutional for decades we have to keep its spirit alive with the next best thing.
*It is our moral obligation to not let other people make unhealthy choices. Okay, so it doesn't actually work because anyone who wants drugs can still get them anywhere in the country, but it's the principle that matters. We must not abandon our principles!
*Without it, the government wouldn't be spending enough money on stuff. That would be devastating.
*It protects our law enforcement agencies from wasting too much of their time and resources on petty criminals like burglars, rapists, murderers, and sex traffickers.
*We have to make sure the prisons we worked so hard to build are never empty. Since the United States has 7-10 times as many prisoners per 100,000 citizens as most other developed countries, and more than half of federal inmates are in for drug convictions, we're obviously doing a great job!
*Richard Nixon invented the war on drugs to target black people and hippies who threatened his power, and the disproportionate percentage of black people still incarcerated for drugs is obviously... um... never mind.
*Most people who become severe addicts were abused as children. They obviously deserve to be punished and ostracized from society for trying to escape from their pain and loneliness.
*How else are the Mexican drug cartels supposed to stay in business and continue making obscene amounts of money and committing atrocities against civilians who look at them the wrong way?
We must continue to stand for what's right. We must continue to fight the war on drugs. And we should fight with baby missiles.
Now, for no particular reason, I shall fill the remainder of this page with Bloom County comic strips.
Sarcasm aside, I'm not saying full legalization or decriminalization of all drugs is the answer, but I know the war on drugs as currently waged in the United States isn't. I do not agree with it, I do not support it, and I will not cooperate with it. Surely we can encourage healthy life choices without wasting billions of dollars to ruin people's lives.
