If I started a business and it was clearly failing, I would shut it down. The war on drugs has failed — why isn’t it being shut down?
As acclaimed filmmaker Eugene Jarecki’s latest video shows, the war on drugs has failed in every way possible. Trying to wage the war on drugs has costs the U.S. $1 trillion, with another $51 billion adding to the tally each year. This has resulted in 45 million drug related arrests, with the U.S. now jailing 2.3 million prisoners — more people than anyone else on the planet. What has all this accomplished? “Rates of addiction remain unchanged, overdose deaths are at an all-time high and drugs cost less than ever before.”
While attitudes and opinions on drug reform are dramatically shifting in the U.S. and across the world, more needs to be done. I echo Eugene’s call for U.S. citizens to urge Congress to advance the Smarter Sentencing Act. This could help put an end to racial profiling, mass incarceration, shattered communities and failed policy. The Smarter Sentencing Act will save the U.S. billions of dollars, which could be spent on helping people overcome drug dependencies. It will also ease dangerous overcrowding in prisons by reducing sentences for non-violent drug offenders… (more)
EDITOR: Richard Branson is the founder of the Virgin Group. It is a delight that top celebrities and politicians are advocating that which we pioneers in drug policy reform were espousing two decades ago.
Top celebrities and politicians live in a fish bowl and are rarely affected by illegal drugs (or any social problem for that matter). Why one should seriously consider their opinions escapes me. They do not have to live in neighborhoods rife with crime. The US has many programs (wars) that fail yet they continue. The “war on poverty” being the most famous. The Singapore system seems to work the best; Drug addicts are treated, dealers are hanged. Voila, no drug problem.
EDITOR: Isn’t the War on Drugs the cause of the lucrative underworld economy which breeds the crime? Do criminal element deal alcoholic beverages on the streets?
Singapore is a virtual city state under an authoritarian government. Of course, if we hung people for crimes, we would have less crimes… and a heck of a lot less people.