Quote Originally Posted by Bill Moore View Post
Is it even possible to wage a war on drugs? Assuming war is a form of political action, what political objective are we trying to achieve, or is just waging the war (being tough on drugs and crime) the objective? Looking at what the current strategy (ends, ways and means) seems to consist of a illicit drug free society (end), pursued by aggressive action against the pushers and sources both in the U.S. and globally (ways), using the legal system (means). No matter how tough the laws the reward versus risk ratio apparently weighs in favor of reward for several criminals moving the drugs. Our expensive focus on the sources (Columbia, Afghanistan, Mexico, SE Asia, etc.) is not only ineffective, but it harms our relationship with those nations, because we're increasing the level of violence in their society to get at the source while ignoring the demand on our end.

I'm not opposed to actions to help mitigate the flow, but cost versus gain needs to be assessed, and the cost can involve more than dollars. I'm all for rolling up the pushers to sell the stuff in our streets, but that only changes the sellers, the market adapts quickly. Joey will be still be able to find his next fix.

The real issue as you pointed out is societal issue (demand), and I haven't a clue how to address it, but we better figure it out and dedicate some resources to reduce our demand.

Definitely like to hear your counter arguments to my layman's observations on the problem.
Bill,

I don't know if it is possible wage a war on drugs. Must not be because we have been at for years and we seem to be getting no where. Kind of like a war on terror.

We do spend a lot of money enforcing drug laws. I believe DEA's budget is in excess of one billion annually. Amazing.

It is difficult to deal with demand in a democratic society. Heroin has always been a problem, but now we are seeing it in amounts that I could never had imagined. High schoolers getting hooked on it because it's cheaper than pills. Methamphetmine seizures in the hundreds of pounds. Not seeing much coke where I'm at. Marijuana is the state plant - for every state. Anyone who believes that marijuana traffickers are not violent needs his head gear flushed out. Obviously medical marijuana is the big deal. Here in Oregon and I will go out on a limb and say it is probably true for the other states with similar laws, the number of people who have actual medical conditions is very low. It was just a way for the pot heads to make it legal - complete farce. A lot of money being made on it.

Lowering demand is about education - I guess.

Supply? Invade Mexico.

My biggest issue with enforcement of drugs laws is we are always playing catch-up. We, DEA, are not flexible enough, but at the same time we have to work within the confines of the law. We spend a lot of time writing affidavits for EVERYTHING. Bad guy communications is a major point of focus, but we have to do a lot of stuff before we get to that point when we should starting there in the first place.