the wrong war

Interesting article from Misha Glenny in today's Post about "The Lost War" -- that is, the so-called war on drugs. She points out the basic fact that it isn't the sale of these drugs per se that causes violence and crime. It is the fact that these drugs, ranging from the mild like marijuana to the hard-core like heroine, are all ILLEGAL that drives the trade underground and brings violence into the scene. After all, there isn't much violence associated with the trade in legal mind-altering substances, like alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine.

Remember that insidious advertisement from the de facto Bush Administration a few years ago that subtly implied (as subtle as Carrot-Top's humor) that smoking pot meant you were supporting terrorists? Actually, you can make a better case that conducting the war on drugs supports terrorists, by giving them a lucrative illegal trade to conduct, and giving them the chance to get on the good side of peasants and farmers from Columbia to Afghanistan, by protecting their opium and coca crops.