Audio By Carbonatix
Think the War on Terror has been a costly boondoggle that’s done little beside spread carnage and suffering? It looks positively efficient and effective compared to the War on Drugs, declared by Tricky Dick more than 40 years ago. It’s hard to say what has caused more grief over that stretch — drugs themselves or the arcane, unfair, and racist policies enacted to try to stop the trade. The nation continues to incarcerate citizens by the millions for minor drug offenses, while our prisons are already packed full. Oh, and by the way, those so-called criminals are ten times more likely to be black than white, despite the fact that whites engage in drug offenses at a higher rate than blacks. As for the drain on our floundering economy, the country has spent more than a trillion bucks on this campaign to rid the world of the plague of drugs. Unfortunately or not, it’s still pretty damn easy to score some weed, H, or X. Can you say massive fail?
The American Civil Liberties Union can, and it is sponsoring a series of community forums titled Has the War on Drugs Been Successful? to look at the subject and discuss alternatives. This Saturday, the second of these panels will meet at Books & Books. A mix of local and state politicians will attend, including Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner, former state Sen. Dan Gelber, and state Rep. Cynthia Stafford.
Sat., Aug. 20, 5 p.m., 2011
