36,827 days as of February 17th, that is how many days it has been since the international war on drugs began in 1909 by the United Nations when they created the “International Opium Commission” in a futile attempt to stop the Chinese opium trade. And the progress that has been made since then? Drug use has skyrocketed to unseen levels in countries across the world, some that never had a drug problem 100 years ago, while billions of dollars is ineffectively spent every year on the capturing, persecution and incarceration of people, who a majority oh which are committing these victimless crimes. Money well spent? I think not. This “War on Drugs” is by far the longest and most expensive war in history. Yet, like the Americans in Vietnam and more recently, Iraq and Afghanistan, our society is too childish and stubborn to admit that we are fighting a losing battle that we need to find alternative answers to.

The world as a unified whole needs to consider and evaluate the idea of legalisation and government regulation of all illegal narcotics as an alternative to the barbaric imprisonment of innocent people. The current attempts to curb  and control its use and misuse have failed, as can be seen by the rising drug use rates in the world the worst part? We have already seen this scenario happen, and could have easily predicted the outcome to the failed war on drugs. Approximately 90 years ago, America attempted to enforce a prohibition of the manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol, making it illegal like drugs today. And for anyone not enlightened on American history this ridiculous strategy was disobeyed to a point where in 1925, 5 years into the prohibition, alcohol related offences had risen to above the pre-prohibition levels. The re-amendment was made after 13 years, signalising the end of a failed experiment. During this stripping of rights, the sales of spirits had increased to surpass wine and beer sales, and deaths increased from the the drinking adulterated liquor, as other ingredients, often poisonous were added by bootleggers looking to give their drink that “extra kick”.

Today this is no different to the production of 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) , or better known as ecstasy. It has been found to cut with other drugs, such as benzylpiperazine (also known as BZP, used in animal worming), a much more deadly chemical than MDMA, sort after due to its remotely similar effects. This has resulted in a increase of people becoming intoxicated or dying from ecstasy use, with blame being incorrectly placed. Things like like this, wouldn’t incorrectly end up in a person’s system if the manufacture and production of MDMA was controlled and kept to a government standard. Is it not hypocritical to legalise one toxic substance such as alcohol for recreational use so safe standards can be put in place, while a complete different set of standards placed on another substance? In Australia alone, it is estimated over 100,000 ecstasy pills are consumed every weekend, each one potentially fatal, not due to MDMA, but due to other ingredients in which a user has no control over, something easily fixed via governmental control. Other things like dosage control, supply to minors and other problems could be controlled this way too. Isn’t it the government’s job to help protect the community?

Another point to consider is the health and scientific research being halted by outdated and naive laws. Cannabis sativa has been proven beneficial as it’s properties help alleviate chronic pain. Interestingly compared to cigarettes, which are significantly more deadly than marijuana, has no medical benefits and is legal. I have yet to hear a justifiable argument against for this. The taxes alone do not even come remotely close to the cost of the medical bills of the treatment of dying smokers. Salvia divinorium, before being outlawed here in Australia, had shown promising results in early research as a healthier alternative to the often detrimental synthetically produced anti-depressants, early research showing figures along the lines of 90% of people diagnosed with depression reported lifted moods and better overall feeling. But let’s ignore that, it’s a drug, therefore automatically bad as seen by our backwater society. Forget the health benefits and incarcerate anyone who uses the stuff before they, you know, do something.

The government, by making drugs illegal are created and supporting a multi billion dollar international drug industry that drug manufacturers, traffickers and dealers all profit from. People who run drug cartels and bikie gangs are getting ludicrously rich, and the government is helping them. When the government’s police force does a big drug bust, they remove a portion of the drugs available to the community, the price goes up, and the seller doesn’t lose money, the buyer, the everyday person foots the bill. It’s a basic rule of supply and demand. A large portion of these illegal’s money could be wiped out, their sources of income would wither away, like the intelligence of the people who refuse to consider these ideas it seems. Let myself explain how a system where illicit drugs become legal could work.

All drugs would be available via prescription through your GP. No different to buying from “that shady guy” on the corner, except your GP can regulate your dosage to keep you safe, provide information about the effects and potential risks of the drugs being requested, and maintain a constant level of communication, so that if user ever decided they had a problem, they would have access to immediate and specially trained staff. If this system was seen to put a drain on doctors nationally, a replacement, someone trained with the correct knowledge in drugs could be trained and used, money being funded by the millions saved from not having to hunt down predators. The users could be provided with a clean and safe environment to use the drugs if they chose. Production of the drugs would be government owned and ran. Taxes could be put in place to keep profits up, as long as it was still cheaper than buying illegally.