Drug War Madness: Smoke a Joint and Your Whole Family May End Up Homeless

Drug addiction is bad. But the war on drugs is worse.

Courtland Milloy of the Washington Post wrote a heart-breaking story that exemplifies the wasteful and counterproductive way our society deals with illegal drug use. Mr. Milloy talks about Frances Johnson, a 68-year-old grandmother in Washington, D.C. who faces eviction simply because her grandson was arrested for possessing a small amount of marijuana. The federal government's public housing system has a "one strike and you're out" policy for any drug law violation -- even if that violation occurs miles away from home.

How does our society benefit from making homeless a whole family because of a little bit of marijuana? Why are we punishing Ms. Johnson who herself did nothing wrong? Does anyone really believe such draconian policies will help reduce marijuana use? How will an eviction affect her grandson's chances for recovery? Should any family be kicked out of their home for a loved one's drug use?

Though they contain no racist language, the application of the government's zero-tolerance prohibition policies are overtly racist, classist, ineffective and inhumane. The New York Civil Liberties Union released a report earlier this month that found 83 percent of those charged with marijuana possession over the last 10 years are black or Latino even though federal surveys show that whites are more likely to use pot. If you are poor and live in public housing, your whole family is punished for a drug offense--even for smoking a joint. But if you are middle class and do not rely on public housing or other benefits it is a "personal" issue. Despite our arresting a staggering 800,000 people for marijuana last year, marijuana is as easily available as ever--to find some, just inquire around your local high-school.

For 40 years, we have been waging a "war on drugs." Just what does our $40 billion-a-year drug war get us? Our prisons are exploding with nonviolent drug offenders; families are kicked out of housing when many have done nothing wrong; thousands die from street violence generated by prohibition's lucrative black market; and drugs remain as plentiful and easy to obtain as ever.

Enough is enough. Ms. Johnson should not be more "collateral damage" from this unwinnable war.

Tony Newman is the director of media relations at the Drug Policy Alliance.

Comments

[edwcorey]

"And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.'" Genesis 1:29.

Amazing that the religious nuts in the U.S. haven't risen up about the prohibition on on poppies, coca, cannabis--all seed-bearing plants, and edible. The nation's motto, "In God we trust," doesn't come into play here. Instead, it's put on coins and dollar bills, demonstrating that money is God in the U.S. Moreover, these plants would be valueless if legal. Who needs dealers when you can grow the stuff in a planter?

[speedingpullet]

How about decriminalising it, like they've done in several European countries?
As long as you're discrete about smoking in public, and don't store kilos of the stuff in your house, you're fine.

Its worked well over there - by not legalising it outright, you mollify the 'drugs are bad, m'kay" posse, and allow DEA resources to be used to crack down on the harder and more dangerous drugs out there.

As for Hemp, what a waste!
It was grown by none other than George Washington, and has over 100 commercial uses. Denim - used for jeans - was originally made of hemp. Additionally, its a great source of oil, wax and the byproducts make good animal feed.

You can still find feral plants growing in rural areas, despite it not being a commercial crop for decades.

Seems silly to concentrate on cotton - which uses up so much water for irrigation,and so many oil-based products to harvest - when many things can be made from hemp, using a fraction of the energy and fuel.

You'd think now that crude is going for $125+, it would be a great crop to re-instate.

[dadw5boys]

China had to legalize drugs before they could make them illegal.

It took the whole of society to hate the use of drugs except for medical reason before the Government could easily make them Illeagal.

Then anyone dealt with drugs received very harsh teatment and the citizens approved.

[TheJibreelaMonsters]

Remember the 1990 Crack Wars?

[Donise]

Great,so now we have a homeless family because of a little bit of pot. Jesus Christ. That's wonderful. Our fucking government and tax dollars at work. Right wing conservative nut jobs.

War on Drugs. HA!!!! How about a war on something that is so heinously destructive that it destroys entire families and continues on into the next generation!! ALCOHOL.

As if pot ever did any harm to an individual other than to alter their mental state a bit and cause the individual to get the munchies.

You know why teens and young adults do cocaine and heroine? The government puts forth propaganda that pot is as bad as cocaine and herioine. Kid tries it and realizes that pot is actually kind of cool sometimes (assuming you're not trying to get your homework accomplished or you get caught)...they figure the government and the school are both full of shit on the pot so they're both probably full of shit on the cocaine and heroine, and whatever else scary shit is out there.

My point is not to encourage pot-smoking, it's to articulate that some teenagers are going to try pot anyway and when they do, they realize it's not as bad as the official message suggests and they question other messages.

Dumbasses (the government's war on drugs I mean). It doesn't work. Open up addiction centers, close down the prisons (for the drug users I mean). Legalize pot.

[lbrillante]

It seems to me that every time we declar a 'war' on something it grows...'war on terrorism', 'war on drugs'... seems to me the government says hey I know a new way we can distract people, waste their money, and pit them against each other so that they remain compacent and won't rock our boats.... let's declare war on something.....

Hey start writing to every congressman, Senator Obama and his appointees... we need the money elsewhere and if they start the experiment of changing drug policies now... maybe we can garner some proof by the end of four years that we are better off without 'war'.

WE have to change, if we want things to CHANGE

[wayoutleft]

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[drblack]

The war on Some Drugs is the greatest policy failure in human history.
If drugs were legal, as they were for most of human history, violence and theft would drop. Evil people like terrorists and gangs would not be able to make lots of money. Cops and public officials would be less corrupt.
Police could actually focus on real criminals. People who actually needed and asked for help with a drug obsession would get help.
To say that drug addiction is bad is a blanket statement. I am addicted to caffeine and it hasn't bothered me one bit.
Every drug has an individual effect, they can't be lumped together.
Go check out what happened when the UK gave heroin addicts free heroin, they went from homeless, jobless,neglectful parents to having a home, a job and taking care of their kids. Then when the program was ended by the conservatives in the UK the addicts went right back to being homeless, jobless and neglectful.
One thing I have discovered in my decades of research into the whole drug thing is that every thing that we are told about drugs is at best a half truth and most of the time an out right lie.

[Chillinout]

I have done a lot of research on this "War on Drugs" that we have in this country, and I agree with everything you said. Something that has always bothered me is the fact that marijuana is classified as a Schedule 1 drug. That puts it on the same level as heroin, while cocaine is classified as a Schedule 2 drug. This sends a very bad message to our youth. It says to them that marijuana is the same as heroin, so why not do heroin instead?

Plus, since a lot of schools are beginning to do drug tests, and marijuana stays in your system for up to thirty days, a lot of kids will switch to a drug that gets out of your system faster, like cocaine, heroin, etc.

The bottom line is that people always have, and always will use things to alter their reality. It is just a fact of life. Instead of throwing all these people in prison, why not legalize them, tax the hell out of them and then use part of that tax money to set up rehabilitation clinics for those that want it. This very approach has been tried in a couple of different European cities with great success, until America decided that they needed to stop.

One thing that a lot of people don't know is that our drug laws are called "International Drug Laws." Again it is America thinking they can control what the rest of the world does.

[Angelus2007]

I agree with your statements on marijuana, it should be legalized, regulated like cigarettes (not like the joke pot shops in California) and alcohol, and taxed much like cigarettes where half the price is tax. I do disagree with more severe drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

How many kids, or how many people reading this as kids, tried a cigarette they swiped from their parents pack when they were 10, or grabbed a beer when they were 13 and shared with a friend. Many do, probably most, in many cases they try the cigarette at 10, feel like they are going to choke to death, and don't smoke atleast till high school, if ever. Or drink the beer and think it tastes horrible and don't drink again until at some party in high school. But what if instead of grabbing a smoke, or a beer, they grabbed cocaine or heroin. And lets say the kid eats or snorts way to much, and dies of an overdose? What then. It happens now, every few days I read a story about some kid who went to the hospital because he got into his mother crack, or fathers heroin, some like some die. But imagine it were legal, and the parents didn't have to hide, or could stock up. There would be more cases like that.

[syryn22]

I am sick and tired of the war on drugs...I am a baby of the eighties, 1980, to be exact. I have witnessed over the course of my life, this so called war...and believe me, there have been countless casualties, none of which are the dealers. I am a firm believer that marijuana should NOT be in the same category as crack, crank or heroine. And the hypocrasy associated with alcohol and weed is so blatant, I am surprised there aren't more people angered (weed heads are usually more peace loving) by it. I have handled auto claims for nine years and it was only last year that I had my first claim where a driver was under the influence of weed. The accident was NOT caused by her being under the influence but because she made an unsafe manuever that she admitted to always making but failed to realize it was illegal. Ask me how many DUI cases I get each week?
It is such a shame that the government is yet again trying to push their damn moral agenda on everyone else. Leave Grandma alone! Kick out the welfare/section 8 fraud folks before you kick a grandmother out for her grandson's experimentations.

[dadw5boys]

I would ask one thing if they legalize it.
If you chose to use drugs a person must tell everyone they deal with, wear so label, ribbon, button or symbol that will tell people "I have used a drug within 48 hours".

If they want to use go ahead. But the public deserves to know.

[AntiSocialite]

This is the stupidest thing I have ever read.

[ThomasDoubting]

Stop the War ! All the wars !

[Eyeful]

"marijuana is as easily available as ever--to find some, just inquire around your local high-school."

Maybe because it's just a WEED that needs no processing other than drying and clipping. It's been around for thousands of years. Granted, pot these days can be very different from the mild variations of years ago, but nobody has ever died from smoking too much. If we could replace crack and crank with pot the world would be a safer place.

It used to be criminal NOT to grow cannabis on American farms. Rope, canvas sails, fine machine oil, and even medicine was all derived from marijuana. Now there is all this talk about alternative "biofuels" yet I hear little about this plant which can yield 3-4 crops per year at a height of more than 20'. Plus it has a natural insecticide so no are chemicals needed, and it can grow virtually anywhere in most any soil.

"Legalize it. Don't criticize it." " Peter Tosh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhTf2C2N5OU

[Chillinout]

Actually you are talking about hemp, which is not marijuana, it doesn't have very much THC, (about 1% compared to marijuana. Thank Nixon for outlawing hemp.

[Titonwan]

Actually, you can thank the Duponts. Their petroleum based plastics development prior to WWII culminating in "Nylon" is the direct demise of Hemp. Dupont knew the Navy used hemp for their tie lines and pushed the Government into changing over to their new product. One is cheap and biodegradable and the other requires oil to make. See anything wrong with this picture?

[WorkingClass]

I don't know how you find the courage to fight such a losing battle. But thanks for this piece. There are still a few cretins like BeeOplentee, but most Americans have been ready to end the "war on drugs" for a long time now. The beta version is the "war on terror". It too will be with us for ever.

[jfor]

Everyone is familiar with the word "pot" that is why it is so easy for the government and anti drug groups to use it to scare the regular folks. You know them, they are the ones getting arressted for drunk driving, beating thier wives and girlfriends, not going to work and peeing in their pants all because beer tastes good.

The hyupocrisy in this country is astounding.

[rabiabidabi]

One of the problems I've noticed is that the drug scene in black neighborhoods is right out in the open. Dealers and users are easy pickings for the police. I know there is plenty of weed being sold, bought and smoked in my neighborhood, but you don't see it when you drive through. It all takes place behind closed doors. If you put your business on the street, you are asking for trouble.

Other than that, I agree the laws are ludicrous. Punishment for non-violent crimes, not just drugs, should not include incarceration.