Lou Rothenstein (loumicsm@yahoo.com)
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Nothing is going to change in Afghanistan as long as the Opium trade is so lucrative and available to pay off or fund anyone at any level, on any side. With the hundreds of millions of dollars we have spent to eliminate this product, the yield continues to grow.
I have no proof but I suspect that USG personnel and contractors are in on the take as is the family of the former President - Karzai's being right in the middle of it.
Of course, our War on Drugs is not much better. Much like a Communist government that runs on corruption and payoffs, until we eliminate the profits of the drug trade - not only dealers and suppliers - but also those who make money off of the trade by turning heads away or enriching their pocketbooks through payoffs and corruption. That includes corrections that relies on archaic and stupid drug laws to keep the prisons and jails full. In particular, those private corrections operations that gain from strict laws and little treatment.
Portugal just legalized everything in the way of pharma. They had success in de-criminalizing drugs around 2001. Their weak economy just could not support waging a war on drugs. The result has been a steady reduction in drug use. See 14 Years After Decriminalizing All Drugs, Here's What Portugal Looks Like
Now we will again crack down on drug crimes. It is plain to see that no one on high has ever really identified what the problem is and why. The change in administrations and policies will not make any difference no matter how much money is thrown at it. As long as there is a law prohibiting something, someone will try to make a living getting around the law. Smuggling is profitable enough to risk being caught regardless if it is diamonds or drugs.
Some of you probably remember the days of prohibition. At least from your parents. When it was enacted, serious crime multiplied. When it was ended, those serious crimes went down.
Could it be that most of us are just plain stupid or perhaps make a living off of the current system....or War on Drugs. Putting drug users in prison has gotten a lot of politicians start up the ladder of political office.
I could give a Shi* less who uses dumb drugs, drinks too much or demonstrates an inability to live life sanely. Just don't endanger others with stupidity like driving under the influence of something - legal or illegal.
There are many good people out there that can help with the addiction problems. There are too few good treatment programs because we spend too much money on punishing drug use. Build more treatment hospitals, not prisons. For those in trafficking, perhaps they may not be competitive with legal sources and go away. It is interesting to look at the legalization of Marijuana in my area. A check on licenses for selling the stuff reveals some familial links to prominent politicians. I doubt that this will have much impact on drug use one way or the other in the long run. But what is bothersome is the facts that technology is available to protect me from some idiot getting behind the wheel of a car, high on something, that might just kill me. Perhaps money spent here will reduce crime and injury to bystanders more than the failure of prisons has.....
And in Afghanistan, take out the Opium and the Taliban will wither on the vine.
Lou
Subject: Pentagon intelligence chief: US must ‘do something different’ in Afghanistan
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