August 21, 2014

The Untenable Yet Persistently Pursued War On Drugs

The United States spends over $50 billion per year to wage a war on drugs. Our prisons overrunneth with non-violent drug offenders, their sentences varied, but all assuming a life-long second-class citizenship status once they return to society. This creates a cycle of repeat offenses because it’s harder to earn a living when many companies won’t hire a person who has served prison time. These repeat offenses are a burden on our judicial system, costing taxpayer dollars, and made worse by conflict-of-interest ridden for-profit prisons, who would like to see higher recidivism rates. With over two million Americans incarcerated, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. All of this in a country where a “dangerous” drug called alcohol is legal. And the argument in support of the drug war is that drug legalization would exact too high a cost on society. If you ask me, we are paying a pretty hefty price already.

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