War on Drugs

The “war on drugs” is an ill conceived program that has wasted billions of dollars misdirecting law enforcement resources away from apprehending and prosecuting violent criminals in the United States. It is time for a new approach to the serious problem of drug abuse in our communities, and the decades-old war on drugs must be ended as soon as possible. We call for new drug policies that are practical, honest, community based, and multifaceted.

It is obvious that the war on drugs is failing -- every year since its inception drug use has increased in the U.S. Important information relative to the war on drugs and its failure can be found in the 2009 report issued by Columbia University, "Shoveling Up II: Substance Abuse and Its Effect on Local, State, and Federal Budgets." This report shows that while billions of dollars are spent on the war on drugs each year, only 4 cents of every dollar is directed toward prevention and 96 cents is spent on administrative costs. The report also reveals that addiction to pharmaceutical drugs is far more of a problem than addiction to illegal drugs.

We need to realize that we do not have a drug or alcohol problem, we have a pain problem, and people using drugs illegally are only "self-medicating" in order to obtain relief from the pain of living in our largely artificial world, one that is far removed from the natural environment in which we found ourselves at the beginning of our social evolution.