Thanks to Mark Anderson for his thoughtful assessment of the viability of the war on drugs.
It shouldn't have to be political suicide to acknowledge that a system has failed, and to propose alternatives. And drug abuse, drug prohibition and accompanying antisocial behavior are not marginal issues, confined to marginal people. We need to acknowledge the failure of current drug policies and the far-reaching affects these policies have had on society, so that we can move forward to address the problem in a constructive way. Drug use and abuse is an issue of public health and safety; it is also tied to civil liberties and economics. The Greens' position on the drug war is to search for strategies to *reduce harm* -- harm to the health of the addict; harm to the individual freedom of the occasional recreational user; harm to communities affected by gang violence; and harm to low-income people and people of color who are disproportionately targeted by drug law enforcement. We need to approach drug abuse from the standpoint of health, safety and economics, not as a criminal or moral issue. There are many alternatives to outright prohibition. I think the majority of Americans are reluctant to allow "commercialization" of recreational drugs -- the last thing we want is more big corporations aggressively marketing mind-altering substances to vulnerable people! But regulated decriminalization of some of the less harmful recreational drugs, such as marijuana, might be effective as an alternative to the war on drugs. We also need to accept the medicinal value of marijuana, and the commercial and environmental value of industrial hemp as a fiber crop, and decriminalize these products. I would like to see an affort to involve people and agencies concerned with both drug abuse and the war on drugs -- from the Mad Dads to local law enforcement to addiction counselors to farmers to county health services to NORML to the state legislature -- in a dialog about how to reduce harm caused by persecution, drug addiction, and gang violence, taking into account contributing social and economic factors. Then we can start developing a consensus on where government has failed and/or succeeded in dealing with the problem of drug trafficing and abuse, and develop new policies guided by the principle of harm reduction. -- Holle Brian Green Party endorsed candidate for State Senate, District 62 (612) 822-6593 www.hollebrian.org _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
