In Plain English
Why the Drug War is a Crime against Humanity Explained
By Carmen Yarrusso
09/08/08 "ICH" -- - Like the Iraq war and the “war on terror”,
the so-called “drug war” is a government contrived “war” based
on lies that generates massive profits for a few while causing
massive suffering for many.
The drug war is futile by design (and thus never-ending) because
it doesn’t “fight” drugs—quite the contrary—it strongly
encourages production and distribution of prohibited drugs by
guaranteeing extremely high profits.
But the most insidious and evil aspect of the drug war is it
manufactures its own enemies by criminalizing the most basic of
human rights—the right of sovereignty over your own body. The
drug war could not exist without first inventing a bogus crime.
Our government wastes billions of tax dollars each year
harassing and jailing millions of decent, productive Americans
for a government-invented “crime”. The use of drugs (even
dangerous drugs like alcohol and nicotine) simply doesn’t meet
any reasonable definition of “crime”.
Real crime requires action that harms another. Real crime
requires both a victim and a perpetrator. For example, robbery
harms another and has both a victim and a perpetrator. Only a
corrupt, depraved government could invent a crime you commit
against yourself.
If you use certain drugs, our government claims you’re both a
criminal and a victim at the same time. Since the perpetrator
can't be separated from the victim, the victim is further
punished for the “crime”. This pathetic perversion of justice is
vigorously championed by our government for selfish political
reasons.
More than 50 government agencies share billions of your tax
dollars each year “fighting” a government-created crime. Of the
millions of illegal drug users, the vast majority use marijuana.
If marijuana were legal like alcohol, these government agencies
would suddenly lose billions of dollars because millions of
former “criminals” would suddenly be granted sovereignty over
their own bodies. The vast army amassed to fight the drug war
would need to be dissolved at great cost.
That’s why our government strongly opposes even honest debate
about marijuana legalization because this massive money-making
scam would soon end.
Ingesting nicotine, alcohol, fatty foods, or certain drugs may
be unwise. But why is it a crime? If a drug user or a non-drug
user harms another they should be treated equally. But the bogus
“crime” of drug use doesn't require harming anyone. Nor does it
require a victim and a perpetrator. It only requires a
government-invented, bogus criminal/victim, a drug user.
By using lies and deception our government convinces gullible
Americans that simply putting something into your own body is a
serious crime. But evidence clearly shows that nearly all the
harm associated with drug use is caused by creating the bogus
crime, not from the actual drug use. There are millions of drug
users, but relatively few are harmed by their drug use. These
few should be patients, not criminals.
But it’s not just the millions arrested for drug use who suffer
from this gross injustice. We gullible Americans have allowed
our government to invent a bogus crime that causes massive
misery worldwide while costing the taxpayers billions.
Consider the following list of easily avoidable human tragedies
that are the direct result of a government-invented, bogus
crime: A tax-free, unregulated, multi-billion-dollar drug
industry necessarily run by violent criminals; a giant law
enforcement bureaucracy wasting billions in a futile attempt to
curtail this drug industry, which, in fact, guarantees its
extreme profitability; a deteriorating public education system
robbed of billions to support this law enforcement bureaucracy;
courts and prisons overflowing with non-violent "criminals"
while murderers, rapists and real criminals go free; tens of
thousands of children enduring the suffering and stigma of
having one or both parents in jail for a bogus "crime”; the
gradual erosion of our Constitution as more and more civil
liberties are sacrificed to fight a crime "made in USA.";
rampant corruption of foreign governments (like Mexico and
Columbia), so driven by US drug profits that life and human
rights are secondary; thousands of adults and children infected
and dying from HIV because distributing clean needles is a
“crime”; violent street gangs with little incentive for
education or legitimate jobs reaping huge drug profits made
possible by a bogus crime; a growing death toll from police
breaking down doors to catch people using substances less
dangerous than tobacco, alcohol or fatty foods; a growing
cynicism and disrespect for all laws and authority fueled by the
knowledge our government can arbitrarily invent a bogus crime…
This sordid list goes on and on.
We're appalled when Islamic regimes invent bogus crimes against
reading certain books, or listening to certain music. Using
certain drugs is our government's version of the same thing. But
the worldwide consequences of US drug prohibition are far more
serious and severe. All of these "crimes" lack the moral basis
of real crime. All are clear cases of a repressive government
dictating the private personal behavior of its citizens.
If real crime is knowingly causing harm to others, then the real
crime here is not drug use, but making drug use a “crime”. And
the real criminals are not drug users, but ordinary people like
us, who sit back and condone a ruthless scam that has been
exported and exploited around the world leaving massive human
suffering in its wake.
Carmen Yarrusso
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