So far the War on Drugs especially the War on Marijuana has incarcerated millions of American citizens, and has not reduced use, availability, potency, or price. We have been following the same policies for more than 40 years, and we are failing every single year. None of the strategies the government has set to curb marijuana use have worked.

While friends and loved ones can intervene, the decision to seek drug addiction treatment rests solely with the drug user.

The biggest fear I have of this policy, is we are setting up ideological policies for failure. As opposed to using innovative strategies to reduce the use of drugs and marijuana we are doing the same thing over and over and over again. I do not believe promoting failure in any aspect of government policy is healthy. It allows politicians to push ideology as opposed to implementing effective solutions.

Ideological based plans do not work. Perpetuating the war on marijuana has only validated that it is ok to wage war and policies based on ideology and not on common sense and reality. Many of the problems we are facing right now mirror this issue. Political parties today, namely the Republican party, are so set on a “no tax hikes” policy that they are willing to see the country default rather than compromise on an effective solution to our national debt. The same sentiment is felt when bipartisan political agendas continue to push this war on drugs policy that is truly tearing up the fabric of our union.

We can look at Portugal as a successful example. Decriminalization and treatment has proven to be a tremendously powerful tool in reducing drug use, and the model could be duplicated in many different nations. 10 years and a 50% reduction in drug use seems like better results than anything the DEA has been able to conjure up in the last 40 years.

Plus, do you really want to say that you support the same drug policies the Islamic Republic of Iran follows. (Of course minus the hanging of drug dealers, we kill them on raids instead)

Reform or fail,
The Weed Street Journal