War on drugs is unconstitutional

To the Editor:

Ever wonder why one the most addictive and destructive substances known to man---alcohol, was exempted when President Richard Nixon launched America's longest war---the "War on drugs," back in 1971? After all, statistics then and now show alcohol abuse as being more destructive to individuals, families, and society than most of the drugs and substances that were criminalized. Was alcohol exempted because it had already been banned once in 1919 by Constitutional Amendment, which was repealed in 1933 because the law was impossible to enforce, and because of the terrible consequences of Prohibition? Or was it because it would have made half our population instant criminals, including the President's wife, Pat Nixon? These were no doubt contributing factors, but in my opinion the most likely reason is because Federal, state, and local governments collect billions of dollars in tax revenues annually from the alcohol industry, which employs millions of Americans.

The insane "War on drugs" has in effect become a war against ourselves. Over the past 40 years, federal and state government have poured over a trillion dollars into drug war spending and relied on taxpayers to foot the bill. In 1980, the US had 50,000 people behind bars for drug law violations--today there are half a million. The US is now the world's largest jailer, and drugs are more available than ever. The drug war is not only a failure, it is a destructive, ravenous machine that is laying waste to individual liberty, personal freedom, and private property. Like Prohibition, failed to stop alcohol production and consumption, the war on drugs has failed to reduce drug use; failed to reduce the demand for drugs; failed to keep drugs out of the hands of addicts; failed to keep drugs off the streets; failed to keep drugs out of the hands of teenagers; failed to keep drugs out of schools; failed to keep drugs out of prisons; failed to stop the flow of drugs into the US; and failed to stop the violence associated with drug trafficking.

Locking up massive amounts of people has only added to the problem. Year after year there are more property seizures and more mothers, fathers, sons and daughters in prison. The drug war reflects an arrogance by the government that it can solve bad habits by passing laws and sending police out on the streets to arrest the way to an improved society. Lost in all the anti-drug hysteria is a simple, undeniable fact: The majority of people arrested for drug offenses are peaceful, non-violent, casual drug users who are productive members of society. That is, until they become casualties of the Drug War. One pain pill borrowed from a friend or relative to alleviate the pain of a toothache which is discovered on the person or in the vehicle of an unsuspecting individual at a police roadblock can result in arrest, jail time, a fine, loss of employment, and an arrest record that will follow him or her for life. But then the War on Drugs is not about drugs anymore. Law enforcement agencies all across the country have themselves become addicted--to money. The more drug related arrests a police agency makes, the more money they receive from the federal government to purchase equipment and gadgets, hire personnel, and most important --to pay officers for working overtime, thus a means for them to supplement their salaries.

The pattern of the drug war has been one step forward, one step back; one drug-trafficking ring smashed, another one formed; one marijuana field destroyed, another one planted; one dealer imprisoned, an other taking his place, and on and on it goes. This un-winable war of attrition has brought nothing but more death, assassinations, corruption, drug gangs, urban warfare, overcrowded prisons, wasted money, and ruined lives. More importantly, it has been one of the greatest government assaults on liberty and privacy in our nation's history.

I'm against drug abuse as much as anyone, but the US Constitution established a federal government of limited, enumerated powers. The power to punish people for ingesting what it deems to be potentially harmful to them is not among them. Why the courts, if not the people, have allowed this blatantly unconstitutional, destructive and expensive exercise in futility called the "War on drugs" to continue unabated year after year is beyond my comprehension. God Bless the USA.

Bill Cox

Fairdealing, Mo.