According to that bureaucracy of the U.S. Government charged with "fighting the war on drugs," led by retired General Barry McCaffrey, Americans supposedly spent about a third less for illegal drugs in 1995 than they did in 1988. The Office of National Drug Control Policy, which is what McCaffrey leads, was formed in 1988, and the most recent budget for the war on drugs was for $16 billion. Of that $16 billion, almost $300 million is earmarked for advertisements on television networks, which are called "public service announcements." Ultimately, this $300 million challenges the impartiality of the broadcast industry, because it is really only a thinly veiled subsidy.

The anti-drug bureaucracy is an octopus of Federal and state bureaucracies which are all very protective of their "turf." If any legislative action appears near that might undermine the credibility of this bureaucracy, no money is spared in the outright effort to persuade the legislators that drugs represent a terrible threat to American society, basically by spooking the public with such propaganda efforts that have the same subtlety as "Reefer Madness." The cavalier attitude the bureaucracy adopts when it spends public funds to defend itself against the opposition of the public, represents the real underlying control of the law enforcement community over the apparatus of the state, in a way that is not only para-military, but a complete subversion of civilian authority.

One of the most incredible statistics the Federal Government publishes is that regarding the use of illegal drugs by American citizens. Who is providing this information? There is an inviolable rule on the streets of America that absolutely forbids anyone who uses or buys illegal drugs, to disclose ANYTHING about their illegal transactions for drugs. This is not something that can be overcome by some anonymous poll, or by going to high schools to interview teenagers who are in the process of becoming obedient taxpayers. And, of course, if the figure is arrived at by extrapolating based on the amount of drugs seized, that is laughable on the face of it, because the authorities have never seized over 10%.

The simple truth is that the War on Drugs is a miserable failure. It is a failure because it is being thwarted by tens of millions of ordinary Americans, who realize that it is not really a war on drugs, but a war on Americans. McCaffrey is proclaiming a success because the statistics generated by his bureaucracy claim that in 1995 Americans only spent $57.3 billion on illegal drugs, whereas in 1988 Americans allegedly spent $90.4 billion. Really. Did poll takers stand on a street corner and inquire: "Excuse me sir, (or madam), do you use illegal drugs?" Did they really think that Americans living under the pressure of a police state, would answer that question honestly? The threats the police and the courts offer the drug user are so severe, even the hardcore addict feels intimidated and unwilling to admit the use of illegal drugs, even if medical attention is sorely needed. It underscores the real callousness of the republic, that its programs are targeted at incarcerating the majority of Americans -- who have substance abuse problems because of the stress of living in the United States, as a result of the demands made upon ordinary citizens by the government of the republic.

The real issue is not illegal drugs, it is the underlying condition in the drug users that appears to require drug-induced intoxication to "escape" the condition of real life. This is the real issue that needs to be addressed, if the DEMAND for drugs is ever to be reduced. We forget that in our pseudo-capitalist society, we have 50 million school children being programmed with the "Me First" directive that makes a consumer economy operate smoothly. Only self-absorbed people are interested in the lifestyles of rich, self-absorbed celebrities as rolemodels, and only self-absorbed people will virtually surrender their civil rights to employers in order to earn the money they need to indulge their appetites. This is not to imply that there is no place for earning an honest livelihood, or for a free enterprise economy; it is instead an acknowledgment that our current condition is one of a highly centralized economy, wherein the independence of the individual is not only disallowed, but viewed with suspicion by "authorities."

Substance abuse is a very real, tragic medical condition that involves medical expertise to be handled properly, and the very idea that law enforcement should handle drug addiction, and drug use, highlights the real adversarial relationship of the Federal Government with the American people. Recently the character of Murphy Brown, on the sitcom of the same name, experimented with marijuana to soothe the effects of chemotherapy. The moment she appeared calmer and happier, and announced to the world that the marijuana was helping her, the entire anti-drug establishment went into hysteria. Ironically, only in the United States could such a massive controversy erupt over a person who does not, in fact, exist. Perhaps this is to distract us all away from the real devastation caused in the lives of tens of millions of Americans, at the hands of the Federal and state governments, in their overzealous prosecution of the so-called War on Drugs.

General McCaffrey goes on with more statistics, to make sure that we all know with certainty what a genuine fool he is. Not only is the amount Americans spent on drugs declining -- allegedly -- but also, he offers a breakdown of precisely how much Americans spend every year on specific drugs, such as cocaine, heroin and marijuana. Anyone who has ever used illegal drugs, even once, knows about the secret subterranean world of illegal drug use, made dangerous and secretive by the Federal Government's illogical War. In the end, all the violence and crime that surrounds illegal drug use and distribution is ALL attributable to the Government's prohibition against drugs, not the drugs themselves. When alcohol was illegal there was crime that surrounded the distribution of bootleg spirits, but today we never see that kind of crime only because people can go into any police-protected store or market, and purchase alcohol as an ordinary consumer. Only once drugs are legalized will America be able to address the violence of the streets, and the true and serious issues of substance abuse.

(CNS)