SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS AND THE FAILED WAR ON DRUGS!
(Aljazeera/The Guardian/New York Post/Stabroek News/Frazer Chronicle)
That is a rough translation of a conversation that goes on every day in every village, town, city and in many neighborhoods. Those of you who think drugs aren't flowing freely in America today are idiots and don't have a grasp on life. You are bubble people who are part of the problem and never will be part of the solution.
The summit opens today in Cartagena, Colombia and will focus on and will be attended by the usual suspects, "state leaders and President Obama." This year.....however, there is urgency to the summit that has been lacking in the past.
Latin America is a world "hot spot" for illicit drug production and drug trafficking and finally the Latin America contingent has come to grips with the realization that the "war on drugs" has failed and a brand new approach is needed.
I personally hate drugs, oh sure I've tried them, I mean marijuana, and Robitussin, but that has been my experience. I have known about drugs, what they can do and how prevalent that they are in the world today. I have heard and read about the profit realized from the sales and distribution of illegal substances, but you get older and forget.
Maybe this week-end summit in Colombia is a wake-up call for us "non-users, us tea tattlers," hell I don't even drink beer anymore. I don't know what we can do, I don't have a clue, I don't know who to talk with, who to contact, but one thing I do know, I don't want my grand babies exposed to the damn stuff.
I have.....in my lifetime, seen what drugs can do to people and what's worse, the lasting, long term effect(s). I had a dear, dear friend who was struck down with drugs, a highly educated, salt of the earth guy, who the last time I saw him was wondering around town looking completely spaced out.....he had lost himself completely to drugs.....how absolutely sad.
The long term effects on a person who uses drugs is a clinical question, to be answered by an expert, I have neither the expertise, nor the time to research the subject. I know that people who have used drugs have memory loss, trouble concentration and seem to suffer what I call the "sitting around and doing nothing syndrome."
Over the past 2 or 3 decades, profit has also wormed its way into the equation, not the drug dealers wallets, rather the judicial system of the U.S. and those people connected with law enforcement of the drug war.
Today America leads the world in incarcerated people, 7 in 10 are either in prison or under supervision for drug related infractions. The cost to house these people, the 7 out of the 10 convicts is staggering.....in the billions upon billions. In addition3 in every 40 people living in the United States has served time or are incarcerated today.
Another staggering statistic is the chance people have of going to jail for one reason or another.....but 7 out of those 10 arrests will be drug related. Add to the statistical parade is the fact that 20% of drinkers consume 80% of all alcohol and that 20% of drug users consume 80% of all the drugs in the United States.
In American today there are thousands of prisons, or people restraining buildings that generate billions of dollars of revenue and employ hundreds of thousands of people. For them, the war is a great study in futility that is like a cash cow for them.
Is the United States war on drugs working.....being won.....? Registering victories? Absolutely not. The drug cartels have the weapons, the solders and the money to kick the crap out of whatever law enforcement does.
We simply choose to ignore what is right in front of our noses, who loses? Everybody. Who is exposed? My grand babies. What can we do, probably nothing, at least not until we wake up as a "people" not as a nation, or as countries.....we all need to come to the realization that the bad times are here with regards to the drug problems in our "world."
I have listed several thoughts for your consideration with regards to stomping out the drug problem, let me know if you agree:
1. Legalize marijuana, tax it, control sales
2. Outlaw all other drugs, shoot the dealers "to death" and send the users to a south sea island.....forever.
That's it, no long winded explanations, just the facts, as I see them.
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