George W. Bush spends almost $200 million dollars per year to fight the "War on Drugs." You probably didn't notice this because the only results we've seen have been in the form of misguiding commercials claiming that "buying drugs supports terrorism," or "marijuana can get you busted". But is it really worth it? Is he so naive that he thinks he can actually dent the lucrative black market drug industry?
             Just think of that $200 million dollars and the more important issues that it could be spent on, such as funding for public schools. I guess the future of America, your children are less important than the hidden agendas within the government. If the President had an ounce of intelligence he would realize the future he is building will be full of poorly educated adults in a world of quickly evolving technology. It is more important now than ever to be up to speed with the newest technology.
             Last year alone the number of people arrested for drug charges was over 700,000. For almost every person that is arrested, there is also a family that is deeply impacted. 80% of those arrests were for simple possession. At the end of the year 2000, almost 10% of African-American males and 3% of Latino males between the ages of 20 and 39 were incarcerated. The voting strength of these communities is weakened with such a high number of incarcerations. Once the citizens return from prison, they are not allowed to vote because of their felony drug possession charge. Only 1% of white males were in prison, but the amount of white drug users outnumbers African-American drug users by a ratio of 5:1. Nearly half of the prison population is comprised of non-violent drug offenders. Very few receive any treatment to help them succeed once they are released back into society.
             Conservatives brag that the drug war has helped decline the nations overall crime rate, but cities such as Boston and Los Angeles are seeing t...