Drugs are bad, but the so-called war on drugs has been nothing more than a decades long fiasco. We officially surrender.
This war does not prevent drug abuse, but instead creates a climate of distrust, fear, hostility, divisiveness, and violence. In reality it is a war of cultural prejudice waged against the young, the poor, and the socially disaffected.
There is a drug arrest every 19 seconds in the U.S. Of the more than 1.6 million drug arrests in 2009, 82 percent were for possession alone. Possession of a plant!
Our war has been a failure, but others like Portugal have had success, and it is their example we should follow.
