Wayne Root is a Libertarian candidate for president. I’m not voting for him; I’m supporting John McCain. But this piece on our “war on drugs” details the massive costs we are incurring, and to what end? A feeble attempt at doing the impossible, it seems to me. It’s senseless, and Root’s article makes a lot of points worth reading! Here’s a challenge: read this with an open mind!
The War on Drugs: It’s Time for Dramatic Reform
This phrase comes from the 1978 "Jonestown massacre" in which most members of the Peoples Temple cult, blindly following their leader Jim Jones, committed suicide by drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid.
Radically Tolerant - of all people, irrespective of race, faith, circumstance. As a person, you will be treated with the respect and dignity you deserve as an individual created in the image of God.
Radically Intolerant - of slipshod reasoning, emotion without intellectual substance, bad ideas, lazy thinking, cowardly ad hominem attacks, the preposterous notion that 9/11 is some government conspiracy (proceed directly to the Loony Bin; do not pass "Go"; do not collect $200), the designated hitter, and the Dallas Cowboys.
Osborne: A Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God
Schlossberg: Idols For Destruction
Ogden: Unfinished Business
Marshall: Reclaiming God's Original Intent for the Church
Yancey: Rumors of Another World
Frazee: The Connecting Church
Pearcey: Total Truth
Postman: Amusing Ourselves to Death
Bork: Slouching Towards Gomorrah
2 Responses to “The Massive Cost of the War on Drugs”
I remember when Libertarians were considered whack-jobs, about 20 years ago. This Wayne Root is well-spoken and seems to have some integrity that the others don’t.
I agree that the war on drugs is a massive failure. What can you do when it keeps getting used for political posturing – all of the postures except the right one BTW.
I think he’s right when he changes his wording from dichotomy to hypocrisy to describe the other candidates (and politicians in general IMO). I think he’s right that the current war on drugs is anti-family.
Sure, I think we all wish that no families had to deal with marijuana use (or any mind-altering substance), that we could all see the fruitlessness or limited benefit from that plant, but the fact is that families are being ruined over this because of the hypocrisy of our leaders. The war on drugs is wrong – two wrongs have never made a right.
Thanks for the article Byron.
Maybe in 4-8 years, people will see that Libertarians have become the new moderates in this country. Did I say that? Wow.
mark merritt ~ Apr 18, 2008 at 12:45 am
Well-spoken, Mark. The typical picture of a guy who takes this position is the “hey, duuude” druggie who just wants his fix. But the truth is that there are many good reasons to change our policy that have nothing to do with wanting to increase drug usage, or even with making drugs more easily accessible. The “war on drugs” is harming families and making criminals out of people who have a particular vice that, granted, can itself be harmful, but when we only look at that side of the equation, we get a very skewed viewpoint. Unfortunately, there are few more knee-jerk subjects than this one, and at this point, knee-jerk is ruling the day, instead of honest, open, well-thought-out debate.
Byron ~ Apr 18, 2008 at 9:15 am