Latin American Allies Resist U.S. Strategy in Drug Fight. Is this "war" worth fighting anymore?

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad — Sat, 16 May 2015 16:53:58 -0400

Across the Americas, governments are increasingly resisting the tenets of the United States-led approach to fighting drugs, often challenging traditional strategies like prohibition, the eradication of crops, and a militarized stance to battling growers in a fundamental shift in the region.

“For the first time in 40 years, there is significant pushback from Latin American countries ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/16/world/americas/latin-america-and-us-split-in-drug-fight.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0

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Response by SPC Charles Brown made May 16 at 2015 5:00 PM

SPC Charles Brown — Sat, 16 May 2015 17:00:15 -0400

This war was lost shortly after it started. There is no way to stop the flow of drugs into this country. Thanks for asking GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad

Response by SSG Gerhard S. made May 16 at 2015 6:15 PM

SSG Gerhard S. — Sat, 16 May 2015 18:15:10 -0400

If the purpose of the war on drugs was to eradicate drugs in the US it has clearly failed in both policy and in practice. Where the war on drugs has succeeded, is in accelerating the militarization of our police forces, growing the size and scope of our myriad of extra-constitutional Federal police forces, and created an entire class of criminals, some of whom were guilty of simple possession. We spend $51 Billion per year on the war on Drugs, and have only succeeded imprisoning an ever greater portion of our population while drugs of every stripe are as available as ever.

In the Federal prisons, " On September 30, 2013 (the end of the most recent fiscal year for which federal offense data were available), 98,200 inmates (51% of the federal prison population) were imprisoned for possession, trafficking, or other drug crimes."

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made May 16 at 2015 6:51 PM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Sat, 16 May 2015 18:51:46 -0400

"If" we look at the so called War on Drugs as a set of comprehensive policies, and start to assess each one individually, let's gauge their effectiveness.

1) Embargo on import of "drugs" - Ineffective. We still have them here.

2) Stop of domestic production of "drugs" - Ineffective. We still have them here.

3) Effect on budget - Continuous increase as the situation has escalated out of control

4) Criminalization of citizenry - Since Import & Production hasn't been stopped in any meaningful way, "we" have gone after the citizenry. That's an issue. All the other pieces that come from this as well.

Response by SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. made May 16 at 2015 7:10 PM

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. — Sat, 16 May 2015 19:10:04 -0400

Why do you attack a public health issue with law enforcement?

Response by Capt Richard I P. made May 16 at 2015 8:31 PM

Capt Richard I P. — Sat, 16 May 2015 20:31:51 -0400

I personally think the political solution is legalization of all substances. What business is it of a government what items are put into a consenting adult citizen's body? Pragmatically, legalizing a product takes it away from criminals and gives it to the legitimate market. This means the criminals don't get the revenue from it anymore.

Militarily, we implement political policy. The best way to counter the threat of transnational organized criminals (that also run drugs) is to empower partner nations in countries in the production or trafficking routes.

Response by LCpl Todd Houston made May 16 at 2015 8:35 PM

LCpl Todd Houston — Sat, 16 May 2015 20:35:57 -0400

It was never worth fighting in the first place. Starting with Nixon refusing to bring military personnel home from Vietnam if they popped positive for drugs. The treatment our Vietnam vets suffered started right with the commander in chief. Whats worse is that when they finally did get home they didn't get the care from the VA either. Sadly, I still see it today, although it does seem to be getting better.

Response by Sgt Ron Danielowski made May 16 at 2015 10:36 PM

Sgt Ron Danielowski — Sat, 16 May 2015 22:36:22 -0400

No, prohibition has never worked, it never will...

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made May 17 at 2015 9:14 AM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 17 May 2015 09:14:05 -0400

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad. Ultimately our society and our government will decide best practices for handling the core legal distinctions in classification and penalties for casual users, addicts, and manufacturers, smugglers, and dealers. A few third world countries who could not care less about public health and intoxication have legalized possession of very small amounts of highly addictive drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, etc. But, in general, they continue to heavy criminalize anything beyond the possession for minimal casual use due to the exceedingly heavy adverse impact on their own and other societies health and economies due to organized criminals.

Part of the question raised by the referenced article and others . . . is what has worked, hasn't worked, may work well in the future . . . and the amount of government corruption underlying legalization in latin american countries that may be increasingly supporting drug traffickers and human traffickers. Do we really want to go down this path to self destruction / perdition here?

Corruption deeply threatens basis for public health and economic development for everyone.

Warmest Regards, Sandy

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Response by COL Ted Mc made May 17 at 2015 1:09 PM

COL Ted Mc — Sun, 17 May 2015 13:09:10 -0400

The only part of the "war" worth fighting is the rampant graft and corruption arising from keeping the "war" running.

If you have a headache due to the fact that you are banging your head against a concrete wall 24/7/52, you don't win "The Headache War" by developing softer concrete or hitting the wall from a different angle/rate/rhythm/force.

You win "The Headache War" by stopping banging your head against the wall.

No one is ever going to win "The Drug War" by "combating drugs" - but they just might win it by fixing whatever it is that make people feel that they need the drugs to get through their days.

Of course, if you start looking for root causes (rather than blaming the whole mess on "weak individuals" or "criminal elements" or whatever) that means that you have to take the first step and actually internalize the fact that - just possibly - there are flaws in your own society. That - of course - is something which is simply not allowed.