The War

The soldiers do not want to fight. The generals think it is pointless. The leaders may be doing more harm than good, and the people often most affected are people just like you and me.

No, I'm not talking about the war in Iraq. I'm talking about a war much more close to home, one that we've been losing since we started it. I'm talking about the War on Drugs.

Drugs are dangerous. I won't deny that. But are people so irresponsible that they have to have a babysitter government tell them, "You don't know where that's been. Don't stick that in your mouth or you'll get a spanking!"

I propose that we stop this silly prohibition on drugs. We should stop going after petty drug dealers, and instead hold big drug cartels accountable. Make drugs legal, but regulate them like alcohol, nicotine, or prescription drugs. Instead of losing millions of dollars sending police officers to their deaths and keeping petty drug dealers locked up, the government could make money on drug taxes and inspection fees. I doubt the mass hysteria and anarchy – as little old church ladies imagine when they think of a nation in which "dangerous" substances are legal but controlled, and where personal responsibility reigns – would actually occur. People who would want to do drugs would probably do them. People who didn't wouldn't. No riots. No drugged-out zombie invasion. Just people doing what they've always done, only now they're paying taxes on it.