War on Drugs is Insane

[SamuelRSmith]

Well, one assumes that $44 billion is under the margin of error, so they could just sweep all costs on the war on drugs under the carpet ;)

However, simply reclassifying, or legalising, or whatever, to drugs won't really help at all. Serious money needs to be spent in three areas:

- Education: And, no, I don't mean having more of those cheesy groups of adults going around in school uniforms doing a poorly rehearsed play with crappy jokes, I mean proper education. Showing exactly how drugs ruin not just your life, but people around you, as well. And fuck the censorship, show 'em footage of people suffering from fits and other things because they used drugs.

- Rehabilitation: People caught with drugs who are found to be using them shouldn't be banged up, but sent to rehabilitation centres - with support going on for months after they leave (weekly visits, regular phone calls, meetings with advisers, get togethers with other local drug abusers).

- Redevelopment: Many drug hotspots are found in deprived areas where people have nothing to live for. Spend money on redeveloping an area, and get the locals involved - that way, they've got a greater chance of maintaining the new area, and it provides jobs and training - giving people things to aspire towards.

Simply legalising drugs doesn't solve the problem, it just means that the problem becomes more accessible and the Government gets to tax it (the taxes would likely be duty and not value-added, meaning that the drugs will still stay rather expensive, which can cause all sorts of problems).