War on drugs will never achieve goal

The drug sentences handed out to Arkansans lately is simply beyond the pale! A Fayetteville man was recently sentenced to 14 years for distribution of drugs. These kinds of sentences are usually reserved for murder and assault. This is a travesty of justice, pure and simple. Arkansans should be made aware of why the Controlled Substances Act and the DEA were formed in the first place.

All drug laws are racist by nature. Chinese immigrants, brought into our country in the 1880s to build the nation’s railroads, fell victim to white legislation criminalizing opium smoking. Mexican farm workers, brought in to farm American crops, a job that that no white American wanted, were criminalized for possessing marijuana. This social and legal schizophrenia was repeated in the 1960s. At that time, opposition to the Vietnam War was paramount among young, mostly white college students. And opposition to racial inequality was paramount among young Black activists. The Republican answer to all of this was the passage of the Controlled Substances Act, a cynical effort by Nixon’s aides to disenfranchise protesters by turning them into felons, which guaranteed jail time and a lifelong proscription from the vote. Make no mistake: There has never been, nor will there ever be, a “drug-free America.”

For the last 50 years, the DEA has been playing whack-a-mole, suppressing drug manufacture in one country, only to have it spring up again in another. In business, it’s called supply and demand. The war on drugs has perpetuated the very symptoms it purports to remedy: drug-related crime, organized crime, the pariah-hood of drug addicts, overdoses and declining health through street drug impurities, etc.

Portugal has legalized simple possession of any drug. The results have been astounding: An 80% drop in both organized crime and drug-related crime. In Canada, there are now government-established safe rooms where addicts can safely inject their drug of choice with sterile needles and gauzes. Overdose deaths have been reduced to zero. In Switzerland, addicts have access to pure, state-sponsored heroin injections, resulting in addicts able to pursue a normal life without wondering where their next fix is coming from.

In conclusion, had there been no Controlled Substances Act and DEA, there wouldn’t be the lethal drug epidemic we now face. No Spice, no K-2, no fentanyl, no carfentanyl, etc. The longer the DEA fights the drug war, the more lethal the street drugs will become.

There is a positive alternative to the drug wars — one that would save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year, by addressing drug addiction through the medical arena, not the criminal justice system. I strongly encourage those who really care about their loved ones who have a drug problam to visit the following websites:

https://drugpolicy.org/resource/municipal-policyreform-local?ms=2D2_1902MunicipalDrugStrategyResource

http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2017/07/new-drug-policy-alliance-report-its-time-us-decriminalize-drug-use-and-possession

The time for a results-driven policy is now, before any more die from the war on drugs.

BRAD BAILEY

Fayetteville