Many years ago a wise man said “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. The war on drugs has been a repeat of the failure of the Prohibition era. Today, we have learned from that era and regulate the production and sale of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol is not a healthy drug. It caused liver failure, even death in some people, yet the attempt to eliminate alcohol in the 1920-30s was unsuccessful because enough people wanted it and used it in moderation for the pleasure it produced. They still do so, and there are those today who abuse this drug and cause grief for themselves and for others. Despite this, alcohol remains available and regulated.
Other mind altering drugs, like cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine are strictly prohibited in all locales today, yet they are available to those who want it badly enough. Like alcohol these drugs are unhealthy but are more addictive than alcohol. Like alcohol, prohibition has miserably failed to control the availability of these drugs because people want them. Marijuana has begun to become more acceptable by people in several states as the generation that experienced this drug widely in the past has matured and realized that, like alcohol, it produces pleasure with minimal risk when used in moderation.
In Portugal, possession of these drugs is regulated by the state, and their experience has been that usage has not increased since it became regulated but the criminality associated with distribution has become all but eliminated. How much longer must we suffer the ravages of the criminal black market for these drugs in the USA and the costs associated with maintaining the prisons filled with drug users? When will we finally learn that these drugs that produce pleasure will never be eliminated by laws, but will only continue to foster a profitable black market that causes more death and disfigurement than the drugs themselves.
It is time to wake up, admit that Prohibition has been a failure just like it was when alcohol was prohibited, and change our approach to one governed by reason and experience from the past!
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