End The War On Drugs

The "War on Drugs" started in 1970 by president Nixon is an infringement on civil liberties and a way of perpetuating systemic racism. Nixon's own Chief Domestic Advisor acknowledged the original purpose of Nixon's "War on Drugs" in an interview in 1994 where he stated:

“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

The "War on Drugs" continued under the 4 subsequent presidential administrations, which culminated its systemic racism with the 1994 crime bill enacted by the Clinton administration. That crime bill resulted in the mass incarceration of black Americans. Going on four decades, the "War on Drugs" has directly resulted in the perpetuation of systemic racism inherent in our political system and society.

According to DrugSense.org: "Since December 31, 1995, the U.S. prison population has grown an average of 43,266 inmates per year. About 25 per cent are sentenced for drug law violations."

The United States already has the highest per capita incarceration rate in the world, and the "War on Drugs" is helping to maintain that oppressive, tyrannical status quo.

Further, the "War on Drugs" has resulted in the obstruction of scientific research into the potential medicinal benefits of cannabis and its associated compounds, and it has denied American citizens access to a medicine capable of treating their ailments. Under federal law cannabis is listed as a schedule I controlled substance. According to the US Department of Justice's website: "Substances in this schedule have no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse."

Meanwhile, The National Institute for Health, a government-funded organization, acknowledges that:

"Evidence from one cell culture study suggests that purified extracts from whole-plant marijuana can slow the growth of cancer cells from one of the most serious types of brain tumors. Research in mice showed that treatment with purified extracts of THC and CBD, when used with radiation, increased the cancer-killing effects of the radiation (Scott, 2014)."

There is a direct hypocrisy evident here. The government cannot simultaneously assert that cannabis has no medical benefit by maintaining its schedule I status and that cannabis can be used as a treatment for cancer.

Lastly, the "War on Drugs" has failed to substantially decrease the public demand for drugs. Illicit drug users represent a multi-billion dollar market. Currently, that money leaves the American economy and goes to the black market. This external flow of money leeches value from our economy into the hands of violent criminal organizations which spend that money on increasing production of illicit drugs and weapons. Meanwhile, the American government spends approximately $15 billion annually "fighting the War on Drugs."

The "War on Drugs" represents an oppression of human liberty, a perpetuation of systemic racism, a justification for mass incarcerations, an obstruction to medical treatments and research, an opportunity for organized crime to profit and thrive, and an multi-billion dollar economic sinkhole. It must end as immediately as possible.