Which begs the question, is the war on drugs really an impossible task? The war has become so costly that many large cities have curtailed much of their actions against drugs, and most large cities are beginning to have a different approach to how the war on drugs should be fought.
The “Just Say No” program has failed, say some prevention experts.
Since 1 in every 31 Americans are either incarcerated, on parole or on probation for drugs, our new drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, in The Wall Street Journal May 7, 2010, said he wants to end the "War On Drugs” and said he favors policies that emphasize making treatment available to drug users rather than putting them behind bars. In other words the war has become too costly to continue the fight because now taxpayers have to foot the bill.
Our prisons are so crowded that new facilities to incarcerate the additional men and women coming from the drug raids are causing the penal system to burst at the seams. Many state prisoners are being housed in county jails that have been built for the purpose of housing the additional state prisoners—a great business for those counties!
Can we actually win the war on drugs? The answer, becoming clear to our justice system leaders, is an unequivocal NO. Why do I say this?
In Revelation 18:23b, John writes, “. . .for your merchants were the great men of the earth; because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.”
Some explaination is needed about the Greek word “sorcery.” In this verse the Greek word is pharmakos. Our English word “pharmacy” comes from the Greek word, pharmakos. Therefore, you see that the anti-christ used the power and enchantment of drugs to deceive the whole world.
Since the whole world is deceived by the use of drugs, our war on drugs isn’t going to be won. Actually, we are in essence beating a dead horse by continuing to fight it. So what’s the solution? Not too many answers to the drug problem exist. If we continue to fight the war, we are going to have more criminals. Many of these criminals could be useful citizens in our communities.
However, once a drug user/seller is arrested and becomes a felon, taxpayers foot the bill for him/her for 3 to 5 years. When this person is released from prison, he/she with the label of felon can’t buy a job. So taxpayers will still foot the bill for him/her. Usually, the felon gets in trouble, violates his/her parole and returns to prison. It’s a vicious cycle. So why make them a felon in the first place?
Another possible solution is for the individual user to get help coping with his/her use. There is a recovery program called Celebrate Recovery that, when seriously pursued by an individual, will work! If an individual is ready to quit his/her habit, works the program as it is designed, he/she will be helped. Celebrate Recovery, unlike Alcoholics’ Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a Christ centered recovery program.
The war on drugs is an impossible task! Let’s quit making criminals of the users, arrest the large dealers and manufactures who exploit the sales of illegal drugs and use the recovery programs available to us today. Most alcoholics and drug users want one thing—help to quit, not imprisonment. Prison isn’t working as a winning solution for the war on drugs. Therefore, maybe our justice department needs to rectify the problem with another viable solution.
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