End The War On Drugs - Chapter 13

Expatriation of Dollars and Destabilization of Foreign Governments

EDITOR’S NOTE: A few years ago, I penned a first draft of a short book, “End The War On Drugs” I offer an updated version, in serial form, here on Substack, for my paid subscribers. I will publish a chapter each week.

CHAPTER 1: A Catastrophic Failure
CHAPTER 2: A Brief History
CHAPTER 3: A Society Rooted in Individual Liberty
CHAPTER 4: Use vs Abuse
CHAPTER 5: Societal Cost
CHAPTER 6: Use and Addiction
CHAPTER 7: Free To Choose
CHAPTER 8: Prohibitions Create Business Opportunities
CHAPTER 9: Inner City Youths and the Permanent Stigma of Drug Convictions
CHAPTER 10: Prisons and the Corrections Industry
CHAPTER 11: Law Enforcement and the Militarization of Police
CHAPTER 12: Asset Forfeiture

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Drug warriors have declared that buying illegal drugs isn't harmless, because some of the money ends up in the hands of terrorists looking to do harm to America.  While that may be, the greater harm from that flow of money at the national level is that done to the nations that the big drug organizations call home.  Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico are the ones that first come to mind, but the list of nations that are major sources or transportation hubs for narcotics is long.  Americans spent nearly $150B on illicit drugs in 2019, up from $65B in 2006 and $100B in 2014. For comparison, alcohol sales in 2021 totaled $261B.

Clearly, the drug trade remains a growth industry, despite half a century of War on Drugs and over a trillion dollars of taxpayer money “invested” in trying to change people’s behavior.

$22B Found In Mexican Drug Lord’s Home

Apart from filling rooms with cash, what do you think the drug lords do with all that money?