Guest Post by Ron Paul
The 50-year US war on drugs has been a total failure, with hundreds of billions of dollars flushed down the drain and our civil liberties whittled away fighting a war that cannot be won. The 20 year “war on terror” has likewise been a gigantic US government disaster: hundreds of billions wasted, civil liberties scorched, and a world far more dangerous than when this war was launched after 9/11.
So what to do about two of the greatest policy failures in US history? According to President Trump and many in Washington, the answer is to combine them!
Last week Trump declared that, in light of an attack last month on US tourists in Mexico, he would be designating Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Asked if he would send in drones to attack targets in Mexico, he responded, “I don’t want to say what I’m going to do, but they will be designated.” The Mexican president was quick to pour cold water on the idea of US drones taking out Mexican targets, responding to Trump’s threats saying “cooperation, yes; interventionism, no.”
Trump is not alone in drawing the wrong conclusions from the increasing violence coming from the drug cartels south of the border. A group of US Senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging that the US slap sanctions on the drug cartels in response to the killing of Americans.
Do these Senators really believe that facing US sanctions these drug cartels will close down and move into legitimate activities? Sanctions don’t work against countries and they sure won’t work against drug cartels.
A recent editorial in the conservative Federalist publication urges President Trump to launch “unilateral, no-permission special forces raids” into Mexico like the US did into Pakistan to fight ISIS and al-Qaeda!
I am sure the military-industrial complex loves this idea! Another big war to keep Washington rich at the expense of the rest of us. And the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force can even be trotted out to fight this brand new “terror war”!
Perhaps unintentionally, however, this sudden push to look at the Mexican drug cartels as we did ISIS and al-Qaeda does make sense. After all, the rise of the drug cartels and the rise of the terror cartels have both been due to bad US policy. It was the US invasion of Iraq based on neocon lies that led to the creation of ISIS and expansion of al-Qaeda in the Middle East and it was the US war on drugs that led to the rise of the drug cartels in Mexico.
Here’s another suggestion: maybe instead of doing the same things that do not work we might look at the actual cause of the problems. The US war on drugs makes drugs enormously profitable to Mexican suppliers eager to satisfy a ravenous US market. A study last year by the CATO Institute found that with the steady decriminalization and legalization of marijuana across the United States, the average US Border Patrol agent seized 78 percent less marijuana in fiscal year 2018 than in FY 2013.
Instead of declaring war on Mexico, perhaps the answer to the drug cartel problem is to take away their incentives by ending the war on drugs. Why not try something that actually works?
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“the answer is to combine them”
if you’re gonna go, then go big.
Oh fuck, didn’t think of that.
The way US judges think they are eligible for asylum now.
The dems consider every one of us that is gun toting, God fearing, patriotic as terrorist. Terrorist to their cause of course. These people the dems are openly stating they want immigration in lieu of welfare for votes. How is that not the same as they accuse trump of quid pro quo. They are committing treason by putting foreigners in front of citizens and doing so for personal and political gain. They should all be fucking hung for treason
There’s only one problem…If all “illicit substances” were made legal, the CIA, FBI and other agencies could not run its drug-running and money-laundering operations as the financial incentive to do so would be gone. The CIA, FBI and other agencies have been able to run their black-flag and black-bag operations successfully as the illegality of certain substances made it profitable to import these substances into the USA.
The CIA, FBI and other agencies will not permit legalization as their money spigots would be turned off and dry up.
Legalize the possession and use of all drugs. Portugal did this in 2001, and while not a 100% success they do have far less drug crime, addiction, and most importantly, INCARCERATION.
Incarceration for drug use and possession for said use doesn’t work. It will never work.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/05/portugals-radical-drugs-policy-is-working-why-hasnt-the-world-copied-it
All the current US policy on drug possession and use does is really take away a person’s chance at fully integrating back into society if they have the will and the help to do so. A criminal record for drugs will certainly curtail employment, leading to a spiral of low wages, depression, and relapse into the very drugs that got them there in the first place.
Make no mistake, people who commit crimes like robbery, assault, murder, etc while in the throws of drug addiction or attempting to maintain said addiction, need to be held accountable.
But often early intervention before their addiction takes them into a life of crime can be the difference of life and death.
Prostitution often goes hand in hand with drug addiction as well.
Diverting incarceration money into rehab money is the answer. There are not enough beds for those that want help but a seemingly endless supply of prison cells. Private prisons make money off of incarcerated addicts, whereas rehab centers typically struggle with funding.
It takes a long time and a lot of support for someone, particularly those on opioids, to have any meaningful recovery. Addicts in recovery need to learn how to live all over again, or in many cases, how to live at all if they come from a generational situation where addiction has been seen throughout family members.
There will always be those that don’t want help no matter what you do. They will persist in their lifestyle of addiction and crime, and no amount of punishment or help will change that.
With all of this said, I would like to point out that “drugs” also encompass alcohol. And we all know how banning that worked out.
About 88,000 people die EACH YEAR from alcohol-related causes in the US
In comparison, 47,600 deaths (2017 this year is probably higher) resulted from opioids. The troubling part of this is a lot of these deaths are the result of prescription opioids, not just heroin.
Pharmaceutical companies introduced very strong painkillers with magic promises of increased efficacy and less addiction problems, which absolutely turned out to be WRONG. Money and greed was and continues to be the driving force behind this, JUST LIKE THE CARTELS.
The bottom line is morality cannot be adjudicated. It has to be taught, and teaching takes time and resources.
It would be a long road and a societal shift if our country is to be weaned off of our love of drugs. We are a nation of addicts, whether it be to social media, cigarettes, alcohol, opioids, gambling, gaming,porn, or TV. We want a quick fix, to feel good RIGHT NOW. We are generally led to believe that a better mood, a good nights sleep, and fun night out with friends, is all just a pill, a drink, or a puff away.
We want to eat like cattle, drink like maniacs, fuck like porn stars, and suffer no consequences.
There is no longer any personal responsibility, sense of remorse, community, compassion, or love, for anyone or anything.
That is the true state of our society. The drug crisis is merely a symptom of a much larger rot of the soul.
Best post here
“We want to eat like cattle, drink like maniacs, fuck like porn stars, and suffer no consequences.
There is no longer any personal responsibility, sense of remorse, community, compassion, or love, for
anyone or anything.
That is the true state of our society. The drug crisis is merely a symptom of a much larger rot of the soul.”
Aint it the truth!
In my opinion, a war on Mexican cartels would be a justifiable war. They are on our border and causing all sorts of strife. That and it will effectively close our borders as mentioned by another commenter on another article earlier today.
That’s hearsay, why not give us the guy’s name and title of the article? My source on another article totally demolishes your source.
It’s just an excuse for war, stupid. No doubt they want regime change now that Obrador is in power. Obama Creed took out the Honduran president. There just is nothing our duly elected officials can’t do to us and other countries.
Which would be more justified…A war over “there” or a war to actually protect ourselves over here? Yes, you’re probably correct, the war would not be what it is intended for or would morph into some other bullshit. Solutions are NOT Obvious?
If we have a war over here to protect ourselves, it will be a war against our government. Solutions may not be obvious but they are available and very difficult to pursue effectively.
If we declare war on the cartels, they’ll retaliate with raids inside the country. From what I’ve heard, MS-13 has already crept into every state in the U.S.
Then they will have open season on them because deer hunters are having a tough time this year anyways
ms-13 is not a mexican gang–
The cartel reside within our country, most likely own governments and officials, large and small… the money is better on the other side now, no need for them to “wag the dog” , build the wall and legalize the shit.
Tho a few spec force personal hits, for a few killers of women and children, wouldn’t bother me too much, they had it coming…
Still presenting the War on Drugs as failure?
Still presenting government as misguided and incompetent… but still the solution?
Wow, that’s very mainstream thinking.
Be sure to read Ron Paul if you want the mainstream.
The “King of pork” sure is a good Monday morning quarterback.
Just sayin
Operatives for drug cartels are probably well established in the US . We can not control MS13 we cannot control heroin in Afghanistan , cocaine out of South American areas shit we can’t even find 11 to 3o MILLON people illegally occupying our country .
All any war on …. anything serves only to create more government job programs at huge expense for pissy ass results while screwing with the rights and freedoms of the very people this shit show was allegedly set up to protect !
welcome to clown world
America collapses into a pharma state; just like a “narco state” but run by prescription drug cartels
So whats the difference?
Let adults decide for themselves. Drinking yourself to death is legal so just make everything else legal and let the chips fall. Just secure the border.. with motion-sensing machine guns and minefields. Mexico is a mess. We have enough expensive problems as it is.
I have never understood why we spend so much money trying to save someone who overdoses. If you are stupid enough to overdose, then Darwin was correct.
most of you who believe in legalization are missing the point–
mexico is either tolerating,encouraging,or unable to stop groups inside their country from invading & effectively committing acts of war against our country–
if there were groups spiking legal shipments of anything coming across the border that resulted in the deaths of americans,would we tolerate it?
however,americans who live in mexico but maintain us citizenship & get themselves killed should not be a reason 4 the us to fight the cartels–
Looked like tolerating a act of war against there own country of mexico, to me. That would make it look doubly intentional to a thinking person…
While that may be true, the primary motivating factor for the drug cartels is MONEY. Legalizing drug use and possession goes a long way to removing the very large money factor. Illegal substances are extremely profitable to sell because of the risk involved. There are peripheral “businesses” that go hand in hand with drug running, and the number one is human trafficking, whether for immigration purposes or prostitution.
Diverting incarceration monies for rehabilitation services, and I mean long-term, inpatient treatment, not spin dries, not one week, and not out patient methadone. I mean in house, where drug addicts are given a long-term safe environment to not only get off the drugs but learn how to live effectively again, which generally means education, life skills, interpersonal skills, and therapy for past harms.
Even the longest term of current inpatient treatment is about one year. That is not enough time. Yet we can incarcerate people for possession for YEARS in a violent and depressing prison environment.
Now imagine a heroin addict who has little life or job skills, given a 2-3 year inpatient rehab opportunity, where therapy and skills are learned slowly and in stages.
I would like to point out that the majority of addicts are actually very intelligent people
They would have to be, to survive as long as they do.
Now imagine taking that intelligence and using it as a productive member of society.
The drug use and social stigma and eventual prison record make it impossible for these people, in the majority of cases, to make any kind of meaningful life even after rehab.
Brains need a long time to heal from continuous drug use
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/851116
And as we can all surmise, prison makes brain function worse not better
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4311616/
So why the hell would we expect prison to help anyone who is an addict?
If drug use were reduced on a large scale, the profit would go down, which in turn would reduce the cartels. This is not an overnight fix.
While a “war on the cartels” might seem to be an immediate, proactive stance, it will do nothing to reduce the demand for drugs, the high profits the cartels make, and so drugs will continue to come into the country.
The cartels are very well armed, have nothing to lose, plenty of willing bodies to throw at the problem, and will always be around unless we take the money out of the equation.
It’s really that simple, yet a long term plan and outlook is needed.
How many federal jobs would it cost to de-criminalize drugs? The AFSCME would never go for it nor would the politicians they own.
How much money would the state/local governments lose in “forfeited assets”?
How many bribes would LEO’s and politicians lose with such a move?
TPTB are all against this type solution as it is too expensive to them personally.
This is true. A large portion of the economy runs on the war on drugs. Police, DEA, courts, prison,attorneys, fines, probation departments, asset seizure. And despite all of these “resources” drugs come into the country. Why? Because there is a buyer group that wants them.
Anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together can see that the current strategy IS NOT WORKING. Yet it continues.
Follow the money and you get all the explanation you need.
We also have a government that assists some of the drug dealing, so the graft and corruption can continue. Look at the CIA drug running operation based in Mena, AR back in the B J Clinton days.
we need to insert many,many sf guys to mark the drugs coming across with radio transmitters & let it all come across 4 awhile & track it to where it is distributed–at that level it will almost always be cartel people–
we need to track it down to the level that it gets distributed by americans so that we can round up all the cartel people in the states when the push comes–
we also need to identify all the players on the mex side of the border from the lowliest mule to the top of the mgmt hierarchy–once we have identified them all,we can collapse them by taking out the managers & bosses–leave the peons alone but keep an eye on them after the takedown & see who they go to work for–
wash,rinse,repeat–
Sure and every freedom we have will be taken away under the guise of that type of operation. Bush took most away with the patriot act and ndaa already
anon,
if the operation was handed over to the dea after it came over the border,why would any more of our freedoms be taken away?
Good points,Red.
“US slap sanctions on the drug cartels”
I was waiting for it, we can boycott there avocado”s now….
This guy could have been our president from 2008-2016. Just saying.
Ron Paul would have been a great president.
I can’t stand any more of this mal informed horseshit from the author and from half the replies about stupid fukked up solutions.
Our government ALL OF IT started this problem.
We created a WMD problem and obliterated a whole country and probably 3 million people.
We created an ISIS problem and obliterated another country and probably 1 million people.
We created a drug scourge so now we want to obliterate another country.
Did I forget anybody?
Now we want to spend trillions on Rehabs or killing drug dealers. Addiction is caused by a God deficit. If you’re hooked go to fukking detox and while you’re shaking your ass off start praying for God to show you what to do when you get out to serve him instead of yourself.
We created a God deficit in this country so now we feel entitled to murder everyone on the stinking planet.
Thank God I sobered up before they invented rehabs where you go in a shifless lazy drunk or junky and come out with 20 fukkin self pity diseases and disorders so you can live in perpetual therapy Like SJW’s and other fags.
Didn’t anyone read Admins article today. I’ll sum it up for you. We no gotsa no money. We no gotsa no God. We no gotsa no life but we gotsa lotsa bombs.
True that.
flea,
can i give you an upper & a downer ?
there is an invasion of our country going on & we have a right to stop it,let’s not confuse the issues–
Red.
I’m not confusing the issues. You are.
Our government created this problem. It won’t go away till they want it to go away or until we revolt outright, which we are too pussified and sedated to do.
here’s the kind of people we’re dealing with–
cartel members went into a hospital & discharged a patient at gunpoint–the patient was later found dead/dismembered–
better to take them there than here–
https://dailycaller.com/2019/12/02/suspected-cartel-members-kidnap-hospital-patient-apparently-dismember-him/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=11144
At least if we declare war on Mexico, maybe we’ll take our borders a little more seriously.