The dawn of the twenty first century has ushered in a new age of optimism and wonder. Despite the proclamations of television, all is not in well in our part of the world. Our societies have succumbed to the modern holy war on drugs. Being fought against our own citizens and citizens abroad, an international effort to eradicate drug production and use has undoubtedly failed leaving in its wake social unrest and political chaos. Assault, property crime, racial and economic marginalization, murder, corruption and many other undesirable things are burning through society fueled by the drug war's cold and inhuman policies. In addition to these problems there are the initial problems that drug users incur on themselves and society; the same ones the drug war was supposed to eliminate. Prohibition is an old idea that is not practically attainable in a democratic society that values individual rights. Experiments with the prohibition of alcohol failed miserably and cost many people their lives. If the justification behind the drug war is human health and wellbeing, as governments would have us believe, then refraining from using the police to murder and spy on our citizens would be a good start to solving the problem. A form of regulated legalization of drugs would be a tolerant middle ground that recognizes the inevitability of drug use and strives to make it as safe as possible. Regulating the market for drugs and researching new psychoactives would lead to a safer drug experience. Legalizing would eliminate the need for an invasive and brutal police force and halt the slow decline of our civil rights and liberties. With the strain of drug related policing removed, serious crimes could be given the resources they deserve. Organized crime would lose its foothold in the world economy along with its influence and power. It is for these reasons and others that the we must wake up and reject the 'drug free' utopia that we are being force fed and speculate objectively about a society with realistic policies based on the facts, not vague moral convictions.
