Why can't the federal govt. just admit the War on Drugs is a huge failure and stop wasting tax dollars?

[donough]

Why is so hard for some people to admit that the War on Drugs has been a massive failure (if the goal was to eliminate drugs from society) and that current tactics used by federal and local law enforcement ARE "misguided", counterproductive, and ultimately not helping in the slightest (again, if the goal is to eliminate drugs from society).

What do you think?? It's almost like the U.S. Federal Govt. won't end this War on Drugs because that would require them to admit they were wrong and would also require them to admit that portions of the law enforcement community have basically been wasting huge amounts time and resources for A VERY LONG TIME.

What do you think??

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100513/ap_on_re_us/failed_drug_war;_ylt=Auho57f3.2BkSAdgHGWRXtxv24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTM0M2RydWxqBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNTEzL2ZhaWxlZF9kcnVnX3dhcgRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzQEcG9zAzQEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawM0MHllYXJzbGF0ZXI-#mwpphu-container

Walters insists society would be far worse today if there had been no War on Drugs. Drug abuse peaked nationally in 1979 and, despite fluctuations, remains below those levels, he says. Judging the drug war is complicated: Records indicate marijuana and prescription drug abuse are climbing, while cocaine use is way down. Seizures are up, but so is availability.

"To say that all the things that have been done in the war on drugs haven't made any difference is ridiculous," Walters said. "It destroys everything we've done. It's saying all the people involved in law enforcment, treatment and prevention have been wasting their time. It's saying all these people's work is misguided."......................So why persist with costly programs that don't work?

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, sitting down with the AP at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, paused for a moment at the question.

"Look," she says, starting slowly. "This is something that is worth fighting for because drug addiction is about fighting for somebody's life, a young child's life, a teenager's life, their ability to be a successful and productive adult.

"If you think about it in those terms, that they are fighting for lives - and in Mexico they are literally fighting for lives as well from the violence standpoint - you realize the stakes are too high to let go."


Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work? [Hint: Yes]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100513/ap_on_re_us/failed_drug_war;_ylt=Auho57f3.2BkSAdgHGWRXtxv24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTM0M2RydWxqBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNTEzL2ZhaWxlZF9kcnVnX3dhcgRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzQEcG9zAzQEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawM0MHllYXJzbGF0ZXI-#mwpphu-container

[tonibraxton]

... Yes I think most of the country would like to end that war on drugs. But the Republicans privatized prisons, and we know that is one industry that will fight against ending that war. There's always someone rich making big bucks off every stupid idea.

[webb]

Too much money to be made with the federal buracracies involved in the war on drugs.

[zadok]

THEN THEY WOULDN'T GET TO SPEND ALL THAT MONEY

[sebastiano53]

I think they still make money at the individual state's expense from seizures and under the table deals w/ cartels/foreign governments regarding prosecution.

I hate napolitano. If they would legalize marijuana the smuggling and violence would STOP, stupid. At least over that drug, which, here in AZ we hear almost daily of the hundreds of pounds being confiscated @ the border(which is good in the sense that its dirt weed, we grow much better on our own, ha).

[adamka]

Because the money interests love the government to spend more because they borrow every dollar to pay for it from the FED. LIst the never ending programs that Government has, War on poverty, war on drugs, war on terror, etc... If you ask me it's all war on "we the people" that have to pay for it endlessly.

[darrell]

Not only is it a huge failure but it is more of a "war on the American people" than on drugs

[bardoul]

More lies as an excuse to seek greater control of the population. "the so-called war on drugs" is another means to invade our privacy and personal lives. Why do the politicos who "indulge" in this pastime not get caught. These ludicrous laws give the Justice Department a "reason to exist" and justify their invasion of our priviacy.It should be a personal matter if one smokes cigarettes, cigars, or 'mary jane". This invasion of privacy is permitted because there are no availabel jobs nor will there be in the next several decades. So,=====how can the "overpaid" lifers in the so-called government be justified by the so-called government. More BS and more totalitarian mechanisms to maintain the status quo while decimating our personal rights.

[lifton]

Have you heard the government admit they were wrong???