Not that most unbiased observers don't know already, but the drug war is complete and utter failure. Billions, if not trillions has been wasted on combating the trade of illicit drugs from the producing countries in Latin America to the United States. What's worse, some of that money has gone to the destruction of arable land and the drinking supply. For a long time, a sizable amount of that money has gone to the governments that support the United States' request to go after the producers. Yet even with those bribes, countries across Latin America are speaking up and calling the drug war for what it is.
From The Wall Street Journal:
The available evidence indicates that the war on drugs is a failed war," said former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, in a conference call with reporters from Rio de Janeiro. "We have to move from this approach to another one."The commission, headed by Mr. Cardoso and former presidents Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and César Gaviria of Colombia, says Latin American governments as well as the U.S. must break what they say is a policy "taboo" and re-examine U.S.-inspired antidrugs efforts. The panel recommends that governments consider measures including decriminalizing the use of marijuana.
The report, by the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, is the latest to question the U.S.'s emphasis on punitive measures to deal with illegal drug use and the criminal violence that accompanies it. A recent Brookings Institution study concluded that despite interdiction and eradication efforts, the world's governments haven't been able to significantly decrease the supply of drugs, while punitive methods haven't succeeded in lowering drug use.
As economists would say, if there is a demand, suppliers can be found to meet that "need." It is clear that the solution the United States came up with is a complete failure and what's worse, helps to increase the dangerous side effects of the fact that the trade is illegal. Corruption is rampant and fueled by drug money wherever the drugs are produced. The finding of the report is simple, that the U.S. must treat drugs as a health problem, not a criminal one.
Now that change may be hard to understand when you are one that is making money off the whack-a-mole strategy that the DEA and other federal agencies use. When you are busy pursuing armed and extremely dangerous drug cartels, it is easy to lose sight of the big picture. Ultimately it is up to the President and Congress to make an attempt to change course and decrease funding for law enforcement and increase that in the health care arena.
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