Sober Up, America !!

Over the last 20 years, the average price of cocaine has declined. Over the last 20 years, the average price of heroin has declined. The supply of methamphetamine ("meth") has increased markedly over the last 20 years. Our efforts to eliminate the supply of cocaine in South America have failed. Our efforts to eliminate the supply of heroin from various places in the world have similarly failed. Meth has always been fairly easy to obtain. In fact, from its origins as a cottage industry made in makeshift rural locations, methamphetamine is now produced on an industrial scale in Mexico and brought to the United States and sold in very pure quantities as "crystal meth." Nothing we do stops the supply of illegal drugs. There are plenty of up-and-coming drug dealers to replace the drug dealers who are incarcerated or killed. It is little consolation that capitalistic drug cartels and distribution networks are running rings around the government at all levels. 

 

America is confronted with two choices: legalize narcotics or punish domestic consumption. The punishment of domestic consumption will cut down the demand for illegal drugs. Until one crashes, illegal drugs make people feel better, and that's the reason they consume those drugs. The drug "high" is a pleasurable sensation for some hours, and even the hangovers, loss of sleep, adverse medical effects and social aberrations do not immediately cause people to sober up. Illegal drugs are personal to an individual's mind and body. Things outside of the mind and body tend to be ignored in favor of the pleasurable effects of illegal drug use. 

 

It is generally understood that addicts need to "hit bottom" before they sober up. Providing that bottom sooner rather than later is one of the main reforms advocated on this website.

 
Continuing on the path we've chosen in the War on Drugs is not the way to win the war.  It is amazing how long humans can continue to take the same path because it is all they know.

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