The Threat of Drugs to Our National Security: Foreign or Domestic?
The National Drug Control Strategy states that, the illicit drug
trade...poses a serious threat to our national security.(1) The Office
of National Drug Control Policy adds, we and our allies will attack the
power and pocketbook of those international criminal and terrorist
organizations that threaten our national security.(2)
The way we
perceive a problem is vital to how we solve it. Perception frames the
problem and colors the formulation of policies. Thus, if the enemy is
primarily external, resources would be mostly allocated to deter drugs
from coming into the country.
In line with its strategy, our
government spends $14.5 billions dealing with the drug threat.
Two-thirds ($9,589.7 billions) go to attack the external supply side;
one-third ($4,909.8 billions) is aimed at confronting the demand at
home.(3)
Drug trafficking is illegal primarily because illicit
drugs pose a high risk to human health. This is not political or
religious ideology; it is science speaking. Doubters may want to check
the hundreds of scientific studies conducted in the last decade by
clicking on http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/.
Is
illicit drug use a big problem? According to a 2008 World Health
Organization survey, the U.S. leads the world in illegal drug use.(4)
The National Drug Threat Assessment indicates that more than 35 million
Americans, including children and adults, used illicit drugs in
2007.(5) (This is over 10 percent of the population.) Also, 12.3
million adults in the United States classified with substance or abuse
dependence are among the full-time employed according to The Na¬tional
Survey on Drug Use and Health.(6) Altogether, we spend $65 billions
each year getting high and getting low.
These facts lead us to
ask the following: Are international criminal and terrorist
organizations truly threatening our national security and the
well-being of our country, or are we not in fact doing this to
ourselves? Are these criminal and terrorist organizations forcing us to
use illicit drugs?
Blaming outsiders for our drug problem is not
a new policy. In 1989 the United States intervened militarily in Panama
and deposed its dictator, Manuel Noriega, claiming among other reasons
Noriega’s involvement in drug trafficking. There is little doubt that
Noriega was guilty. The point is that Noriega was catering to our own
vices.
On his trip to Mexico, President Obama—as well as
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prior to his trip--admitted that the
American people are “partially responsible” for the drug wars in
Mexico. Although an understatement, their admissions signal a welcoming
shift in how we view the problem. For, although it has neither reduced
the supply nor the demand of illicit drugs, this same flawed drug
strategy has been the same since its inception.
What does a
strategy that places the burden of our drug problem on foreigners say
about our nation? Chutzpah? Sure. Arrogance? That too. But above all,
by blaming others we conceal the nature of the problem—along with its
causes--from ourselves.
A first step in facing the drug threat
should be to reverse the allocation of resources. Currently, government
funding for parental education programs is irresponsibly low. That is
our fault. Although the National Institute on Drug Abuse research
indicates that the most crucial risk factors for drug abuse are those
that influence a child’s early development within the family,(7) all
levels of government have traditionally abstained from formulating
policies regarding parenting because we are leery of government
intrusion into family matters.
Government funding of adult
programs is even worse. Failure to own our drug problem inhibits us
from going much further than tough laws, incarceration, treatment or
occasional drug testing. These have not worked.
That millions of
people need to ingest, snort or inject drugs to “feel good” points to
much needed empirical research concerning ultimate questions: Why are
many of us so insensitive regarding the social ills our behaviors
create? Why does our way of life create a craving for drugs? Why so
many among us need illicit drugs to be happy and feel good despite that
we live in a bountiful and free nation?
While reviewing our
illicit drug strategy, we might as well take a close look at our guns
policy. FactCheck.org attests that there is no exact data regarding the
percentage of US-sold guns that end up in the hands of criminal
cartels. Its research, nonetheless, indicates that, there is no dispute
that thousands of guns are being illegally transported to Mexico by way
of the United States.(8) Drug cartels use these weapons to conduct
their criminal behavior that stems from our addiction to illicit drugs.
