posted on Aug, 27 2004 @ 07:12 AM
The cartoon above does a good job of illustrating the collateral damage that has been a result of the war on drugs.
There have been interventions in foreign countries in this drug war and people in the US have had their homes stormed by drug enforcement agents,
sometimes wrongfully.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Drug Offenders account for 54.7% of sentenced prisoners in BOP-Operated Facilities. That's up from 16.3%
in 1970.
BOP.gov
The National Drug Control Budget for 2003 was over $19 billion (
link ) and I'm sure a lot more is being spent on police
officers enforcing the drug laws and on incarceration of drug offenders.
It would be great if we could at least say the end justifies the means but in spite of the strong stance on drugs, drug use is still higher in the US
than it is in countries with more permissive attitudes towards drug use.
NDM Annual report 2003 (3.5MB PDF)
I'm not a user (or seller) and don't endorse it's use but I think there needs to be a different approach than what's currently being used.
A lot of money is being wasted and many people are being incarcerated and it doesn't seem to be having the desired effect.