The United States is a wealthy and moral society which may be the reason American society is so politically committed to the War on Drugs. Like so many political solutions to legitimate problems, the answer for years has been prohibition of undesired activity. Libertarian website Hammer of Truth posts media reactions to the latest FDA Marijuana Advisory in a post titled Compassionate Conservatism: The Federal War on Patients. One commenter links to a summary of Drug Policy Studies.
The War on Drugs is also United States International Policy and while South America is increasingly being lost to socialist regimes , some ideological and some completely corrupt, the effects of U.S. drug policy is a significant factor in many regions of the continent.
Coca Quandary for Hard Up Bolivia: "The policy of the preceding neo-liberal governments was aimed, under the direction of the US embassy, at eradicating coca, and the policy did not concern itself with the poverty and the social and cultural aspects that were tied to cultivation.The history of medicine is filled with well intentioned therapy which in time came to be understood as producing more harm than good. Bloodletting, electroshock therapy and hormone replacement therapy come to mind. I keep pondering the reasons the political forces for individual liberty, the pursuit of happiness and optimal freedom within limited government do not win an overwhelming popular vote mandate. It is probably because politics is more about money more than principles and the prohibitionist inclinations of the right are every bit as intransient as the ill conceived collectivism on the left.
"We are proposing a front-on assault on the real drugs trade... against money trading and the so-called precursor chemicals which are used to manufacture cocaine.
"The coca leaf itself is not a drug and the farmer is not a drug dealer... to this day, however, our prisons are crammed with simple and poor farmers, and not with the real drugs bosses."
I have been taught chemistry and botany and understand the difference between a molecule and a plant. If the Republicans want to expand their electoral margins from narrow to commanding majorities then they need to extend the offer of freedom to a greater base. There is room for compromise in the War on Drugs if the majority is willing to ease up on the laws against plants and focus on the behavior of individuals. The right wing needs to commit to the reality that freedom entails the right to behave in non-violent ways the majority doesn’t approve.
