Drug prohibition has increased the value of drugs to phenomenal levels. Yet drug crops are easy to grow and to process. Drugs are thus widely available, at very high prices. Yet the illegality of drugs results in the entire drug marketplace operating outside the law. The conflicts in the "ordinary course of business" in the market cannot be resolved through the courts, and thus the disputants resort to violence. The valuable commodities are tempting targets for theft, and thus the criminals who run the markets require armed guards for the most elementary protection.

The ever-harsher sentences imposed for drug trafficking results in ever-more desperate strategies to minimize the risk of being apprehended. All of these factors lead to the recruitment of children into the drug trade and its associated violence.

The most fundamental drives of the society are to protect its children. The drive to protect children from the abuse of drugs has created a "zero-tolerance" paradigm that has overwhelmed consideration of other strategies for protecting children, and other vital interests as well. Yet the desire to protect children from the "menace" of drugs exceeds the desire to protect children from many other dangers.

In twelve step programs of recovery from alcoholism (Alcoholics Anonymous) and drug addiction (Narcotics Anonymous), one of the most important lessons for recovery is to learn to detach. Twelve-steppers are taught to, "let it go, give your problem up to God." As a nation, we are "addicted" to the "war on drugs." Perhaps if our nation is to recover from the obsession of the anti-drug effort, we need to acquire some greater detachment. As long as policy is driven by what seems "most infuriating," and not what is most logical or most effective, our ability to fundamentally address these problems is minimal.

Eric E. Sterling
Spring, 1997