March madness

Did you know that over 1.5 million men and women are arrested in the United States each year due to our drug laws?

Did you know that about 400,000 men and women are in US prisons for nonviolent drug offenses?

Did you know that 1,000,000 others are currently on probation?

Did you know that violent criminals (i.e. murderers, rapists, child molesters) are regularly paroled to make room for them?

Did you know that 51% of violent criminals get out in 2 years or less (and 76% after 4 years), while the average sentence for a federal drug offence is 6.25 years?

Did you know that more people are imprisoned for nonviolent drug offenses in the US than are incarcerated in all of Western Europe (which has a larger population)?

Did you know that the cost of our drug war at the federal level is about $20 billion dollars a year?

Did you know that the total cost of our drug laws could be in excess of $100 billion dollars each year? (Source: M.S. Gazzaniga, "Legalizing Drugs: Just Say Yes," National Review, July 10, 1995, pp. 26-37)

Did you know the war on drugs consumes an estimated 50 percent of the trial time of our courts and the full-time dedication of 400,000+ police officers? (Source: W.F. Buckley Jr., "The War on Drugs Is Lost," National Review, Feb 12, 1996)

Did you know that in some states a person merely accused of a drug crime can have his property seized, and those who levied the accusation can profit to the tune of 25%?

Did you know that seized property can be seized and forfeited even if a defendant is found innocent?

Did you know one national survey found that 80% of property seizures occur without any criminal prosecution whatsoever? (Source)

Did you know the US government has recently sought approval to use a genetically engineered killer fungus designed to attack marijuana crops inside the US?

Isn't this insane?!?

The more I learn about our "War on Drugs" the more I am convinced our drug laws are a victory of ignorance.

Shouldn't we be spending some of this police and financial equity securing our ports and balancing our books?

What is being gained by this madness?