Drug abuse is a problem; that cannot be denied by anybody. It is responsible for destroying countless individuals, families, and communities.
However, it can be argued that the international response to drug abuse, particularly the policies that the United States has largely imposed on the rest of the world, has been just as (if not more) devestating as drug abuse itself. The draconian set of prohibitionist policies in the U.S., collectively referred to as the "war on drugs," has been the catalyst for a great deal of violence as a result of international drug trafficking (look up the death toll in Mexico since 2000 as a result of cartel violence), a waste of billions of taxpayer dollars, a violation of civil liberties, and an ineffective solution to the problem of drug abuse.
Just as troubling is the amount of money spent to incarcerate non-violent marijuana offenders. We spend billions of dollars each year to punish people for the possession of a plant that is less toxic and addictive than caffeine, according to research from the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
Last week, a Global Commission on Drug Policy released a report claiming that the global war on drugs has been an incredible failure: http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/Report
While the majority of the international community immediately concurred, the United States was alone in asserting that the commission's conclusions were erroneous (although it could not back up its viewpoint).
I guess the topic of this discussion is: do you think the war on drugs has been effective in curbing drug abuse? Do you think the high cost (both monetarily and in terms of lives lost) has been worth the benefits? How would you suggest changing U.S. drug policy?
Gender: