The War on Drugs: A War on Ourselves

One of the greatest sources of injustice in the world today is the so-called “War on Drugs”. The mass incarceration of non-violent drug offenders is not only racially biased but inherently unjust and irrational. These prisoners are driven to further delinquency and crime, rather than rehabilitation. The cost of their imprisonment and their effective exclusion from well-paying jobs causes the economy as a whole to suffer. The prohibition of certain substances also creates a black market, inevitably giving enormous wealth and power to criminal organizations. Ending the War on Drugs may be the single best thing the United States can do in the short-term to promote peace and prosperity in the world.

The “criminals” imprisoned in the War on Drugs are not a danger to society when they are put in prison, but many are when they finally get out. When living with other criminals, some offenders of violent crimes, drug offenders gain access to a criminal network that is likely in contact with several criminal organizations on the outside. Upon their release, the harsh social and economic pressures that come with having a criminal record often make a life of crime look much more appealing. Convicted drug offenders are effectively banned from middle class society and forced into a life of crime or poverty.

The War on Drugs is a huge drag on the American economy. Prisoners are not productive, but rather they cost the taxpayer money to imprison. Furthermore, their lifetime productivity is significantly reduced even after release, because their chances of finding a well-paying job with promotion opportunities are severely limited. In recent years, however, the privatization of prisons in the US has made mass incarceration quite profitable for some. The companies that own the prisons are paid by the government to accept the prisoners, and they try to imprison them as cheaply as possible in order to make a profit. The scary thing is that these companies can also hire lobbyists and fund political ads that support policies that will result in more prisoners. In fact, it would be irrational for them not to do so, because companies are designed to do anything they can to further their interests within the rules of the system. The result of this privatization is that our government has a natural tendency to incarcerate as many people as possible, despite the harm that this causes to our society. In addition to the productivity that would be gained by putting nonviolent criminals to work, legalizing and regulating the sale of drugs would generate large amounts of tax revenue. The legalization of cannabis alone would create the equivalent of a new cigarette industry, and it would also open the door to industrial hemp production. In times of recession, we cannot afford to pass up these economic benefits.

The damage done by the War on Drugs does not end in America. Most of the world has been affected by our policy of forcing other governments to go along with our “war”. In Mexico and many South American nations, the War on Drugs has been far more destructive. Fueled by the massive demand in the United States, criminal organization have gained unprecedented power by controlling the flow of illicit substances across the border. With violence as their only method of resolving conflict, they have caused countless deaths. In some countries, governments have been forced to deploy the military on their own territory after police were overwhelmed by the ruthless drug cartels. If the harm to our own society is not enough reason to end the War on Drugs, the devastation it causes in other countries should be.

If President Obama ended the war on drugs tomorrow, the benefits would be seen overnight. Hundreds of thousands of nonviolent criminals could be re-integrated into society and become productive participants in the economy. The government would save billions of dollars every year that would have been spent on the arrest and imprisonment of drug offenders. Finally, nearby countries like Mexico would finally have a chance to root out organized crime and would become more productive participants in the global economy. The War on Drugs is nothing but a war on ourselves.