| Show The lie If War ar of Drugs r I s r a a Sam Cooper Contributing Writer The war on drugs rages on but where are the results Its It's estimated that the federal government government government gov gov- spends nearly 20 billion billion billion bil bil- bil- bil lion dollars per year on the war on drugs yet drug use across America has been on the rise since 1990 Though millions of pounds of illegal drugs have been seized since President Nixon declared the war on drugs a wide variety of illicit drugs from around the world still find their way onto American streets Massive drug trafficking cartels are routinely broken up by the CIA and DEA in and out of America yet more instantly spring up to take their place When will we realize that our current strategy strategy strategy strate strate- gy just isn't working Currently the governments government's answer to the domestic drug problem has been tion During the get tough on crime policies became I popular in inner cities across the country By linking drug use and an n increase of crime politicians instituted mandatory mandato mandato- ry prison sentences which eliminated the possibility of parole As a result the United States currently imprisons a higher percentage of its citizens citizens citizens citi citi- zens than any other country on earth In the United States since 2000 one and a half million people per year have been arrested on drug related charges On average more than drug related arrests result in prison sentences each year Nationwide crime rates today are comparable to those of the but the incarceration incarceration incarceration rate is four times higher than it if was then Yet crime and drug use continue to plague the country In a recent interview Marc Mauer assistant director of See Drug War continued on page 6 Drug War continued from page 5 the Sentencing Project a research and advocacy group based in Washington DC D.C. attested that arresting drug users does little to reduce crime If its it's a serial rapist that makes an impact on crime but if its it's a kid selling crack on the comer that just creates a job opening for someone else In addition housing all those prisoners comes with a hefty price tag nearly dollars a year per inmate If a fraction of that money was spent treating the cause of the problem rather then the result we might be more successful in our war on drugs Its It's time we realize that locking up drug offenders offend offend- ers not reduce crime or drug use Recent events in Columbia have been hailed as victories in the war on drugs Farm Fann land used to grow the coca leaf the central ingredient ent in the production of cocaine has been reduced by 47 percent in the past three years Unfortunately that reduction in production of cocaine in Columbia will never result in long term reduction of use or availability ty of cocaine in the United States The fact that our governmental governmental govern govern- governmental mental leaders have yet to recognize this is disturbing The incessant flow of illegal narcotics is a testament t to the economic principle of supply and demand If attempting to eliminate the supply proves fruitless then maybe we should focus on the other side ide of the lem Im I'm not advocating ng the legalization of any illegal substances but since present policies have failed to impact Americas America's drug crisis we must look for new answers |
