I was posting a response to this comment:
Larry D Abela
There is a WAR on drugs? Really? What War?
There may be policies and actions in place, but a WAR ON DRUGS? A badly regulated industry is perhaps a better descriptor.
Larry, the war on drugs is an accurate description of the current state of affairs. The police use violence to enforce the law. They can take you to jail for using and selling the wrong plants. People get killed defending their drugs. In the States, many people have been killed during no-knock raids because a snitch gave the wrong address. Law enforcement stigmatizes drug use and prevents people from getting the help they need for drug addiction. Unregulated drugs lead to accidental overdoses. Many people are being needlessly infected with diseases because harm reduction strategies are not being used to help keep addicts safe. Calling it a War on Drugs is not hyperbole. Needless death and destruction are the result of our "badly regulated industry".
Most people are not directly affected by the war on drugs, that is why it is so easy to downplay the harm caused by the war on drugs. I have been a peaceful pot smoker for over a decade and law enforcement has affected me only once. I don't have a criminal record despite my acts of civil disobedience. Otherwise I have very little trouble obtaining pot for recreational use and the law has little to no impact on my life. It is easy for me to forget that people are dying because of our misguided policies. Sure I know a lot of people that have been ticketed and jailed but I don't know anybody that has died. For people that have never used drugs calling it a war on drugs probably seems ridiculous. But I don't have to go to Iraq and personally see the war to know that a war exists. The Drug War is real, Larry, and it is a war that will never be won.
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