John KovalenkoWRTG 2010: BeasleyArgument II: "An Unjust War" Few, if any, would argue that drug abuse in the United States is not a problem serious. However, the question remains how to fix it. The current pattern of politicized and militarized “war on drugs” does not appear to be helping to reduce drug use in this country. More and more prisons are being built, and increasing numbers of citizens (especially among minority populations) are incarcerated and then trapped in the cycle of the criminal justice system. Current policies aimed at punishing drug users not only place pressures on monetary resources and infrastructure; they actually perpetuate great suffering and social injustice. What is needed is a systematic transfer from an ideology of punishment to one of prevention and rehabilitation, but in practice, as in most cases, money will speak loudest . The current methodology of the “war on drugs” fails to recognize the ineffectiveness of legal measures and deterrence as a long-term solution as well as the reality of addiction as a serious illness. Additionally, a disproportionate number of minorities appear to be the primary targets of this system. There are even arguments suggesting that social betterment is not in fact at the heart of current drug legislation, but rather that it is the profit of the agencies and industries involved that determines the law. However, the most compelling political argument against the war on drugs is its cost. Research shows that the United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world, with 40 percent of arrested inmates having been convicted of nonviolent drug crimes. The federal government has spent billions on drug control while only half a paper remains to double down on prohibition. Today, given many materially similar facts surrounding the history of criminal alcohol prohibition, public opinion should once again respond reasonably. In order to solve this vast and complex drug problem in America, we must first recognize that the "war on drugs" is not actually a war, but rather an attempt to prevent the real challenges of addressing our shortcomings as a society, as individuals, and as a nation, by imagining that drugs themselves are to blame. Perhaps today, as we see our armed forces engaged in a war abroad, our economy in flux, and our nation heavily embroiled in a global "war on terror," the enlightenment of facts will produce the collective will necessary to disengage from this internal battle. of our own creation, and finally declare the end of the “war on drugs ».”