At times I get so confused. We seem to have had all these wars going on. Not real wars mind you but we still like to call them wars. We have had the “War on Poverty”. We have what Christian’s think is a “War Against Religion”. It seems that every social struggle we like to call a “War”. Of course, the granddaddy of them all was the War that Nixon started and that is the “War on Drugs”.

The War in Vietnam started a counter culture in the 60s especially on our campuses around the entire nation.  Now it is unfair of me to say that the Vietnam War was the only thing that made the 60s, what some would say, explosive. We had the Cold War in full swing. We had President Johnson’s “Great Society”. We had Civil Rights and all the violence that came with the Civil Rights movement. We had a social revolution from what many would consider the counter culture of things like the Hippie Movement and alternative lifestyle. The 60s put the liberal into the mainstream conversation. From our long hair and bellbottom jeans to our talk of peace and free love. As Timmothy Leary put it, we were supposing to “Tune In, Turn On, and Drop Out”. It was an interesting time to grow up in America. Even though the counter culture made up a minority of the country it has made a lasting change that the establishment is still fighting to this day.

In the 60s with all this talk of counter culture we had drugs. Nixon started his war on the counter culture with his “War on Drugs” as a way of try to rid the country of that anti- establishment counter culture. Since Nixon declared his “War on Drugs”, we have spent about a trillion dollars on it and I don’t think that number reflects the cost of incarcerations or the financial damage done to families. Annually we spend about 47 billion dollars for drug enforcement. The total cost, including incarcerations, annually is around 300 billion because of drug arrests   I think when it is all said and done it will go down as one of the costliest “wars” in our history. What I question is, is this a war people want to win and end or is this is a way for people to make money and municipalities help pay for their Police and Sheriff’s Departments? Also, just think about all the money that has been spent on Jail and Corrections Facilities. 1 in 5 people that are incarcerated in the United States are there because of a drug conviction.  

One of the biggest farces is the marijuana laws and incarcerations around the country. In 2022 there were almost a quarter of a million arrests for marijuana with 92 percent being for possession.  Those numbers are actually slightly up from 2021 even though more and more states are legalizing marijuana. Why was marijuana made illegal in the first place? The quick answer is one word, Racism. Even though a vast majority of scientists that were surveyed at the time claimed that marijuana was not dangerous. Harry J. Anslinger, a Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (1930-1962), turned his battle against marijuana into an all-out war. Anslinger sought to ban marijuana and started a high-profile campaign based heavily on racism. He claimed that the majority of pot smokers were minorities, including African Americans. He stated that pot had a negative effect on these “degenerate races” inducing violence and causing insanity. He also said that it “makes darkies think that they are as good as white men”. He even stated that pot was a threat to white women’s virtue. He believed that women smoking pot would result in their having sex with Black men. Not surprising is the fact that early into the 21^st century that racism is still part of its enforcement. According to some studies Blacks are nearly four times more likely to be arrested than Whites on marijuana charges even though the two groups have similar usage rates.

Just like prohibition made the smuggling and the distribution of alcohol a growth industry for organized crime until the end of prohibition, the same thing happened to the marijuana industry. Its growth and distribution became part of organized crime so if this country wants to know the reason why the Drug Cartels became so powerful all it has to do is look in the mirror. First, we tried to eliminate alcohol and that led to the mob and then we try to eliminate marijuana and that led to the Drug Cartels and other more deadly drugs. Florida had a referendum in an effort to legalize marijuana. It needed 60 percent approval for passage and it got just less that that but it still showed that the majority of the people wanted to legalize it, who was opposed? Why our Governor and our Police and Sherrif organizations. I wonder why? Could it be that the “War on Drugs” just brings in too much money into the state? Is incarcerating people now big business? How about all the money that the drug cartels bring into the state for investment purposes? Do you think that is happening and that affects why the Florida Government doesn’t want it to be legal. Making it legal would hurt the Drug Cartels. I think that making it legal would make our streets safer.

I do know one group that wins by not approving the referendum. That group would be the Drug Cartels. As long as we continue to make things people want illegal instead of truly controlling it there will always be people that will smuggle it into the country. Of course, marijuana smuggling has led to other drug smuggling though the same infrastructure. Heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl are sold by those same cartels and their power  has grown. As we see more and more today, with money comes power and these Drug Cartels rake in billions. This money is used to expand their power both politically and, in a way, militarily. Some have their own little armies. They also need to turn their dirty money into clean money so they are always looking for ways of investing it which in turn makes them financially powerful like any other Billionaire Organization would be. I am sure that power doesn’t only spread in their own countries but also here in America because in America money is power and the Drug Cartels have tons of it.

We have been a war against marijuana since 1937, that is almost 90 years. Many people have had their lives ruined and I am sure that many people have also died in this war. One of the better definitions of insanity is when you keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Our War on Drugs has failed and we need to start think outside the box.