Sabotaging the "War on Drugs"

Our "Drug War" policy HAS FAILED. We need to accept that and develop new ideas. This is an area where - like Iraq- we simply CANNOT FAIL. There are 3 big domestic issues we must succeed at for our children's sake- education for the jobs of the future, conserving our natural and financial resources so they have something to build on, and protecting them from the excesses of drug abuse that has destroyed so many lives.

More on this later, but I want to say that in my decades of working with troubled families in the legal system NOTHING has ever been so immediately and totally destructive as Methamphetemine. I have seen families go from the "American Dream" to living in a burned-out house or broken down car, unemployed, dirty and hungry, the children without medical or dental care and missing school- ALL WITHIN A MATTER OF MONTHS. This is a problem we must fix; we CANNOT continue following the failed policies of the past.

Mexico recently tried a new approach, which was immediately mischaracterized and demonized by forces in the United States with vested interests in keeping the status quo. The Mexican proposal DID NOT "LEGALIZE" DRUGS. What the Mexican legislature passed- WITH WIDESPREAD SUPPORT AMONG MEXICAN CITIZENS AND THE SUPPORT OF MEXICAN PRESIDENT FOX- was a law which decriminalized possession or use of small amounts of illegal drugs by adults within their own homes. Penalties for drug traffickers would be strengthened. The money spent on hunting, prosecuting and jailing people who used drugs in small amounts their own homes would be earmarked for use capturing drug "kingpins"- the manufacturers, smugglers and dealers- and for drug abuse prevention education and treatment.

This is an idea worth debate. Treat drug abusers as a medical problem and stop drug dealers more effectively. Use more money to treat addicts and to educate children BEFORE they use. However this- if it worked- would show once and for all what so many have said- prohibition is part of the problem, not the solution. So many people have vested interests in the status quo that any new idea cannot even be discussed. Thus, under pressure from the US after a quick campaign of misleading statements and outright LIES about the Mexican legislation, President Fox has reversed his position and will not sign the law.

I am not sure the proposal WAS a good one. I AM sure that what we are doing is failing. I AM sure that we need new ideas, an open discussion, and NOT campaigns of lies and deception. I AM sure that we need more treatment and education. I AM open for ideas- unlike, apparently, the people who presently represent us. What do YOU think?