Mr. President, you want to Make America Great Again. Frankly, I agree. There’s a lot that needs to be done: eliminate the national debt, fix our infrastructure, improve space access, be ready for trouble with hostile nations, and most importantly, restore the trust of American citizens in each other and in our government.
There is one action you can take which will go a long way to addressing these problems: End the war on drugs.
The war on drugs, inaugurated by President Nixon, has been a colossal failure. Despite billions of dollars wasted (various estimates here and here) and increased mass surveillance, both of which fly in the face of the principle of limited government which you and the Republican Party claim to support, drugs are still being produced and imported because people want them. I’m not one of those people; I simply recognize that government cannot eliminate the demand for drugs, or alcohol, or commercial sex, or anything else. The key lesson from the Prohibition era is that attempting to eliminate the demand by interdicting the supply just drives the supply underground – into the hands of violent criminals. This does not serve public safety or national security. It undermines both. Ending the war on drugs would go a long way to achieving one of your stated goals: ending illegal immigration. The chaos and violence caused by the drug war is a major driver of illegal immigration. Ending the war on drugs will go a long way to restoring peace in Latin America.
Why should law enforcement officers – brave people that I was privileged to serve with in a civilian capacity for about six years – be made to risk their lives for attempting to squash demand for something that people want?
Much is made about minorities (aka nonwhites) being arrested in disproportionate numbers for drug possession, sale, or distribution. Ending the drug war would take a major talking point away from the Democratic Party – and you need every vote you can get. Some people who are Democrats because they believe that the war on drugs is a Republican concept designed to harm them might decide to #WalkAway. Ending the war on drugs would also return the Republican Party to the concept of limited government.
Mr. President, it is time for you to strike a blow for limited government. It is time for you to drain the swamp. End the drug war. Call for the legalization of all drugs today – not just marijuana. If shutting down the DEA and other drug interdiction agencies (state and local as well) becomes a political problem because people don’t want to lose their jobs, offer those displaced employees first crack at jobs in other law enforcement agencies or a “golden handshake” retirement package. Let drug use be regulated by state and local governments. Instead of wasting money on interdiction, let local and state governments, as well as the federal government, make money on drugs through modest taxation. Money that is no longer wasted on the fool’s errand of drug interdiction can be used to pay down the national debt, fix our infrastructure, and improve our security. Call a summit of the Latin American heads of state and ask them to get on board with legalization; I’m sure most of them would be delighted to agree to a bold new initiative from you that would help their countries. That would be a message that your opponents here could not ignore.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Regards,
Michael Jabbra