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Reporter's Notebook: Don Henry Ford Jr.

Further Proof That the Enemy is Us

Posted by Don Henry Ford Jr. - February 11, 2005 at 11:15 am
I watch part of ABC’s Good Morning America each day before heading out for chores. Today’s show had a segment about the explosion of crystal methamphetamine use and production in small town America. It showed before and after pictures of the terrible devastation this drug visits upon those that choose to abuse it—fresh smiling faces alongside scarred, worn-looking, hollow-eyed images of people nearing death.

For me this is just further proof that if we were somehow successful in destroying all the coca and poppies in third-world countries where they are produced, we, right here in the good ole USA would figure out some way to create alternative products to take their place.
It is the demand for these products here in the United States and other industrialized, wealthy nations that create the coca and poppy fields, not the other way around.

Kind of reminds me of the character that comes back to report, “I have seen the enemy and it is us.”

Domestically grown marijuana also satisfies around half the market here in the US, and the percentage grows with time.

We cannot place blame on these poor countries that produce these drugs without recognizing our own culpability.

To win the war on drugs, drug abuse must be treated as an illness rather than a crime.

About Don Henry Ford Jr.

Personal Website
http://unrepentantcowboy.com

Biography
I'm a writer, horseman, cattleman, former marijuana smuggler and an ex-con--fluent in three languages (English, Spanish and Texan).

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Comments

the enemy

Submitted February 13, 2005 - 11:46 pm by John F. Eden
Wise words, and true. The character who made the comment re: the enemy being us was Pogo, a little swamp-dweller that I think was supposed to be an Oppossum, if I remember rightly. Ah yes, a quick Google confirms my suspicion as to his species! He was created by Walt Kelley, and lived in the Okefeenokee Swamp, about 50 miles south of us here in south Georgia.

He spoke those momentus words during the runup to World War II, I think. Funny how things don't change much.

I do agree with your perspective on the foolish nature of the drug war. Facts like yours make it all the more clear that the point of the drug war is to have a wide repertory of tools of repression.

The Enemy is Us

Submitted February 14, 2005 - 3:30 am by Linda Langness
I think the enemy is even more insidious.  An ex-New Yorker policeman, currently employed by the probation department, and running for sheriff in his new residence in northern, rural Idaho, was asked why all the high school kids were routinely being "busted" by local cops for methamphetamines, while the meth labs, known to all in this county of less than 10,000, remained untouched.  The answer: busting the meth labs cost too much; therefore, it was much easier to just bust the buyers, i.e., mostly high school students.  How much more sicker can the system get than this????

How right you are

Submitted February 15, 2005 - 1:22 pm by Paul Silvester
Abso-bloody-lutely.............

Supply is only there to feed demand. Mankind has always looked for a way to 'get away from reality' and chemicals of one form or another have always been the chosen answer.

Prohibition does not work, never has, never will......

It needs a radical change of heart. As you say a change of attitude from crime to illness, from punishment to treatment. Because the reality they are running from is even harder to change!!!

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