Politics

Author: Richard R. Tryon and others

Compassionate Conservatism and The War on Drugs

or Is there a better answer?

by Richard R. Tryon

Among the many liberal articles of faith is one that must say that man is perfectible- if only we can have the resources and governmental programs to help him achieve it! If we can’t persuade then we must gently direct by using political pressures, laws, armies of ‘professionals’ and go beyond directions or mandated levels of interference to enforced compliance. It is hardly surprising then that these good folks brought us to the time when we accepted the laws to make use of dangerous narcotics and other drugs illegal! The Mafia lost no time moving into this new opportunity.

The billions already spent on the war on drugs took a new dimension recently with the visit of the President of the U.S. to Columbia with a billion plus in cash to fund the war on drugs at the point of supply. One wonders if the cash was used to pay the Russians who were building a submarine near Bogotá, high above and beyond the coast, to smuggle large shipments to the U.S. ?

If Americans will not respond in a law abiding manner to the siren call of the Mafia to buy drugs in the street billed as ‘recreational’ in the same manner as what they would recommend for sex, then they must be ‘saved from themselves’ via intervention that may involve military as well as police and other risks.

Compassionate Conservatives look back at the earlier age when drugs of the sort found throughout history and used by only a few people and ask: How and why did this change? Who brought our nation to the time when the major cause of crime in America is drug related? Was it a conservative idea? Was it a liberal idea?

Yes, it was a liberal idea to make these drugs illegal. It lead to the formation of thousands of new government jobs all relating to the many ways to address the golden opportunity put in the hands of political supporters from the underworld! Who could resist when the studies and reports show how dangerous these drugs are to the users! Few have written about how dangerous they are to the non-users! They are the victims who provide the cash for the users who are ‘hooked’ on the vicious array of drugs sold by those who want to profit while spreading misery.

It happens that this writer is involved with a farming operation on the south coast of Puerto Rico. It is historically not a much used mile of beach front property for it is remote and secluded. The perfect place for drug smugglers to come! Years ago, the farm was abandoned with old sugar cane fields growing wild and with an old farm lane that made a secluded landing strip for clandestine aircraft. They came and off loaded hundreds of pounds of costly cocaine. Our purchase and the renewal of farming efforts changed that. The landing strip became open and unusable, but the beach was still quiet and boats came to bring the same shipments to points where others could meet and carry away the material.

Our farm manager tried to cooperate with Federal Drug Enforcement agents and in protecting the farm from intruders, many of whom often came to steal farm products, while others came to import far more costly materials. He often patrolled the land at night with a trained dog and a shotgun and communication gear. He vectored helicopters and police but never found anyone captured after lights from off shore ships were seen signaling and getting flashing light responses. There is more than a little evidence to show that the bad guys know how to bribe those charging with catching them!

One night this manager found a car coming out of the area near the beach and when he tried to hold up his hand to make the driver stop, he was not too surprised when instead the car accelerated at him! He managed to jump out of the way and the speeding car quickly started to show its brake lights, as if to indicate that the driver was about to turn around and try again! The shotgun was quickly fired at the back of the car and the driver then sped off and out of the farm gate where entrance had been made. Some flying glass hit both men in the back of the head.

Eventually, after a three year period of struggle, the two men in the car, who happened to be neither thieves or drug helpers but just sexually attracted to a remote location, were found in court trying to prove that the farm manager had tried to kill them! The police investigation and court actions went through three prosecutors before the case finally came to trial. In the trial, a key witness for the prosecution (a squatter who lived on the farm) surprised the jury and all others with words that told the truth- the two men were not friends of hers, and they had never visited her or her husband or child, as they stated they often did. Further, they were not bringing her a message from her brother and she would not have let them into her house! The jury acquitted the farm manager of trying to kill these men on our farm. Partly because of the fine defense of the accused, but mostly because one Puerto Rican lady was willing to tell the truth to save the Texan farmer that protected her squatter house from frequent invasion!

Of course, there are a thousand similar stories that can be found, if you look for them, to explain why it is that the illegal drug business, which is worth trillions of dollars, owns about all that is needed to allow a steady stream of contraband to enter P.R. and get onto its market destinations in the U.S.

While this farm manager is scarred for life with the pain and agony of a three year battle to save his life, many others no longer feel the pain- they are dead! So too are thousands of peaceful victims, who were the targets of the addicts who will do whatever they need to do in order to deliver the substance that their drug abused bodies require to avoid horrible drug withdrawal.

The liberal thinkers are certain that they are honest and sincere in wanting to save the drug addicts and want to think that they can turn off the source of supply by spending billions to catch the smugglers. Those in the business accept that some of their troops are going to be caught. That is ok. They are not only expendable, but everyone knows that a certain amount of police success is needed to keep the public aware that the police are doing a good job, when they are often part of the reason for the failure. The hope of a liberal victory insures that the laws will not change!

There is only one thing that the drug business Lords fear. It is not the police, the army or navy. Or the Congress or the Courts. All of that can be bought off. If not, then the price of the product just climbs higher and more innocent victims will provide the cash needed for the addicts to buy!

What is that thing to fear?  Legalization of drugs and provision of same at low prices by the very government that claims to be lead by the ‘do-gooders’, who claim the moral high ground, because they want to claim that they love the addicts, but need to control them via rehabilitation programs.

How can a Compassionate Conservative deal with this problem- one, I might add, that was not much of a problem fifty years ago when drugs were not banned! When we did to drugs, what had been done in the twenties to alcohol, we gave the crime world a brand new business. It has done quite well, don’t you think? It has even managed to foster lobbies and pressure groups to act like they want to make drugs legal, knowing that the secret wish of so many is to leave it all as it is.

If elected, George W. Bush should work to implement a compassionate program that does two things:

One, make the laws such that possession and use is not illegal of all drugs! By supplying quantities via government run or private enterprise dispensaries, we can make such materials available at prices that do not require thousands of murders to pay for it; and

Two, provide government facilities for addicts to stay. One side for those that want treatment to get rid of the addiction; and one for those, who would still kill to get the fix. For them, and for their potential cash supply victims, the most compassionate thing to do is to let them indulge free until they are ready for burial! That can be free too.

No doubt the liberals will scream that this proposal shows no compassion at all for those who will end up destroying themselves instead of innocent victims. That is true! However, the significant number of such, who will die happy with drugs, would have been a lot fewer if the liberals had not made the problem happen in the first place. Society also has a right to build itself places to live in freedom where all may be safe from the tyranny of the drug Lords and the addicts.

Keep in mind that once the solution has achieved the above results, something else can happen, if we are able to restore in the nation’s schools a sense of obligation and a duty to avoid such an ugly and unfortunate termination to the life that God gives each of us. It will not take long before we can freely teach and show children what happens to those who choose the drug dependent life style.

Those that die from it, will probably not procreate and this will cut down on the source of victims among the poor. The wealthy are already able to buy what they want illegally. Some of them will die as well as their appetite roars out of control. In the end, we will get back to the age when most people choose to stay away from drugs. Our population may be a little smaller, but it will be a lot healthier!

Will I lose my grandchildren because of such a change?  I think that is possible, but not a lot more likely than if we leave the present system in place. I am prepared to take that risk as my parents did for me when currently banned drugs were legal. Only three in my High School class of 1,000 stood stupidly on the curb to smoke a joint. Oh to get back to that statistic! What do you think?