Pubdate: Fri, 06 Mar 2009
Source: Greensboro News & Record (NC)
Copyright: 2009 Greensboro News & Record, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.news-record.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/173
Author: Ken Knight

NATION'S WAR ON DRUGS NEEDS MAJOR OVERHAUL

The war on drugs this country has been waging for years is a colossal 
failure. It has done nothing to decrease the availability of drugs, 
and it has provided a very lucrative business opportunity for 
organized crime. It has also corrupted our law enforcement and 
criminal-justice system. Drug cartels have so much money and power 
that they can easily afford to bribe or kill law-enforcement 
officials. Our jails are full of people whose only crime was to seek 
intoxication.

Prohibition has never worked. Many human beings have always sought 
the pleasures of intoxication, and many always will. Prohibition made 
Al Capone and his buddies rich, and it is now making drug cartels 
richer and more powerful than governments.

The drug business, like all business, is governed by the laws of 
supply and demand. If the supply of a desirable commodity is 
restricted, the profits go up. Prohibition cannot solve our drug 
problems. Drug abuse, including tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, 
etc., is a public health problem. We cannot stop people from using 
these substances, but we can reduce the damage they cause with 
accurate information and access to good treatment.

Ken Knight

Greensboro 
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