War, huh, what is it good for?

absolutely nothing, as the song goes. and they're right.

i hate these anti-drug commercials. "drawing is my anti-drug." wanna know what my anti-drug is? drugs. why? because that's my choice. actually, i'm not a drug user--of any kind--but if i were, does the ad council really think that these "anti-drug" or "above the influence" commercials are going to work on people who already dabble? not a chance. look no further than the DARE program to see how well it works.

yeah, i understand that the intent is to prevent people from getting involved in drugs to begin with. but that hasn't turned out too well either. but really, what's the big deal anyway? people drink excessive amounts of alcohol and that's perfectly legal. but to chase a high by blazing a joint, smokin' some rock, or shooting up? yeah, that's gotta be worse.

point is (actually there are many points here) that the ads are aimed at the wrong crowd: kids. so, they should be directed at parents, meaning you have to actually air them during shows that parents watch, i.e. primetime. but that costs more money. so rather than reaching the appropriate target, the media buyers for the council decided just to take what they can get, and that's a wastrel's mentality.

just like the war in iraq, the war on poverty and every other war for which the country just couldn't get by without a czar, the war on drugs is a big waste of money and resources. the most "effective" weapon we've come up with to date is the arrest, which leads to conviction, which in turn leads to incarceration (paid for in full by you and me, mr. and mrs. taxpayer). and then for some reason the very people that crack down on the drug users and put them in jail are the very ones that complain of jail overcrowding. curious, indeed.

i've touched before on how backasswards denver (and colorado in general) is when it comes to solving the drunken driving problem. rather than giving people more safe alternative ways home, they simply step up police presence and increase the number of arrests...you can see where this is going.

well, this is just a microcosm of how the rest of the country is run. do you REALLY want to solve the drug problem? if so, there are several logical steps you, as the gub'mint, can take:

first, legalize marijuana, but regulate it like cigarettes. award exclusive contracts to growers--even foreign cartels-- and make sure all the product is customs compliant. subsidize plants in the U.S. that will produce the MJ ciggies and then market them like regular cigarettes by selling them in grocery stores. oh yeah, and tax the fuck out of them. the tax revenue generated will go along way in offsetting the cost that you idiot leaders have sunk into the drug war for the last 30 years.

next, take a large portion of the dollars that you use to fund DARE, prosecution and incarceration, and put it into education and rehabilitation services. wanna know if it works? just ask portland, OR. (note: why is it that the rainiest, most depressing, albeit beautiful, place in the country is always so far ahead of everyone else when it comes to, well, everything?). they've had large scale success with funding methadone clinics and clean needle programs. their MJ laws are as lax as you'll find in the U.S. this approach has reduced crime, death rates and has actually increased the number of people that seek treatment and eventually get off the smack.

lastly, fire the drug czar and appoint a czar of common sense. this new czar will be tasked with changing the mindset of the nation, no easy task. he or she will be highly focused on promoting the medicinal uses of natural cures, while simultaneously extolling the virtues of moderation and abstinence. the czar will be the advocate general for the treatment and counseling clinics and will serve as the liaison between the FDA (or whoever will approve the quality of the drugs) and the clinical hierarchy.

it's evident that in the current system the people already on drugs are collectively a lost cause, worthy of nothing more than taking up space in one of our numerous prisons. the capitalistic approach (and even the common sense one) would say that if they're already going to do it, why not make it safer for them and profitable for everyone else?

we're wasting valuable resources fighting a war in the desert. we're doing a shitty job of closing the gap between rich and poor, thus wasting more time and money with terrible program management. maybe the third member of the war triumvirate could be the one that actually works. it will, with a different approach.

War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh

War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again, y'all

War, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

(credit: edwin starr)