Drug War Allowed To Get In The Way of Terror War

Afghanistan is a mess. The Taliban is back and has mounted serious offenses in recent weeks. NATO says they need more troops. And why is the Taliban back? Well, one of the reasons people are pointing to is our government's plan to eradicate opium. We've hired a corporation to go through the fields of the poorest farmers in Afghanistan and destroy their opium crop. And it's really worked too - opium production is at its highest levels ever. But the rural farmers who grow the opium have turned on the Americans and Brits for destroying their crop, and this is where the Taliban is re-gaining control. Coincidence? Who's to say?

But I noticed in the recent drug survey - the same one that said baby boomers were getting high while their children say "no" - about 6 percent of people said they had used marijuana in the past month. About 4 percent of people surveyed said they had used methamphetamine. 2.6 percent said they had abused prescription drugs. Just about 1 percent said they had used cocaine.

Heroin? Only 0.1 percent used heroin.

So why worry so much about the opium crop in Afghanistan when Americans don't really have a heroin problem? We're sacrificing the war on terror in the vain hope of one day helping Courtney Love kick her smack habit?

Bill Maher is the host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" which airs every Friday at 11PM.