Why have we wasted 115 years on an unsuccessful “War on Drugs”?
( version 2). Tony Ferdinand.
Recreational use and abuse of mind-altering substances have not emerged recently; they have been with us since the dawn of human existence. Archaeological evidence of medicinal plants containing psychoactive substances dates back to the Palaeolithic Age, which began over three million years ago. In early Egypt, “the Ebers Papyrus 1,500 b.c.e.” documents over 700 drugs for medical applications, many of which contain psychoactive substances which would have certainly been used recreationally. In South America, coca leaves were being utilized nearly 7,000 years ago. (Coca leaves are the primary ingredients in cocaine.) Chewing coca leaves is a practice that persists to this day; it acts as a stimulant and also alleviates certain medicinal conditions. In Mesopotamia, there is evidence that opium poppies were being cultivated by 5,000 b.c.e., and there are written records concerning its use from 3,400 b.c.e. onwards, after the introduction of writing in Mesopotamia. ( Mesopotamia was the first area to develop a written language.) Homer’s Odyssey, written in 900 b.c.e., mentions Pharmakon, a potion made of opium that was used to “bring forgetfulness of every sorrow.”
There is abundant evidence that recreational use of narcotics has been prevalent throughout the world since time immemorial. Until the early part of the last century, laudanum was in common use across Western countries; it was inexpensive and readily available. It was used to treat pain, insomnia, depression, agitation, in fact, almost all known medical problems, including teething and crying in infants; it was made of a mixture of alcohol and opium, often with spices added.
In Canada, opium was criminalized in 1908. Cocaine and morphine followed in 1911, and cannabis in 1923. However, the two most dangerous drugs, tobacco and alcohol, were never criminalized. The average smoker has a life expectancy of 10 years less than a non-smoker. In 2024, tobacco in Canada resulted in 46,000 deaths, compared to 5,200 deaths from fentanyl. Fentanyl is cheaper than heroin, and many addicts prefer the intense, rapid rush it produces. It is also often cut or mixed with other drugs, even a small amount of which can be lethal. ( Another drug spreading among addicts is nitazene, which is lab-produced and 40 times the strength of fentanyl.) The chemists who produce synthetic drugs will always be one step ahead of legislation, making it a game of whack-a-mole. ( Note: Canada contains approximately 10% of the population of the United States.) Due to Canada’s high taxes, cigarette smuggling is considered to be more prevalent than drug smuggling. There is a larger market, and it carries much lesser penalties if caught. Nicotine is extremely addictive and is often rated as addictive as heroin. Smoking rates in Canada since the 1970s have been reduced by 90% through education and prominent displays of the risks associated with smoking on cigarette packages.
Alcohol is involved in 60-70% of all incidents of violence, murder, child neglect, abuse, spousal assault. It can also lead to job loss, homelessness, drunken driving, drowning, and hunting accidents amongst many other things. During riots, many participants are intoxicated; there are no cocaine riots, heroin or fentanyl riots, or even ecstasy riots. Alcohol is also a contributor to mental health issues, depression, suicide, and social anxiety. It is linked to over 200 diseases, including seven types of cancer. As a retired police officer, I have observed that almost all calls for service after midnight are related to alcohol. Research that evaluates the combined harm to the user and society consistently ranks alcohol as the most dangerous drug; even rapid alcohol withdrawal for an alcoholic can be fatal.
When the average person thinks about drug trafficking, they envision individuals standing on street corners, primarily in skid rows ( areas with a large homeless population and higher crime rates ), selling their products to locals while awaiting their suppliers, usually in Cadillacs or other expensive vehicles. However, dealers are present in almost all schools. When I mentioned this to my daughter-in-law, a principal at an elementary school, I expected there to be one trafficker per school. She corrected me, stating that there are likely two or three dealers per school. In universities, there are multiple dealers. For instance, at the University of British Columbia in Canada, first-year students receive a lecture on how to safely use drugs.
The obvious question is why do students and others not report all these dealers to the police? The answer is complex. Some, of course, are users and rely on the dealers to supply them; others fear personal violence or violence to their families, vandalism to their property or their families’ property (many dealers have connections to violent criminal gangs). Some do not want to be known as a snitch or rat; many believe that there will be no meaningful action by staff or police if they report them. In some cases, the student may know the dealer personally and view the person as a good person despite their drug dealing. In other cases, particularly in universities, they deal because they cannot afford to pay for their courses and sky-high rents.
Who then uses illegal drugs? Accommodation and food service workers lead the list with 19%, construction workers come next at 12%, management at 11%, retail workers at 10%, lawyers at 20%, doctors at 5% ( much of this is due to the readily available narcotics by doctors ), and even police officers at 3%. However, if we were to include misuse of alcohol in these percentages, they would be many times higher.
Many people ask, wouldn’t it be good if there were no drugs? A good question, but I must remind them that we are also concerned about children sniffing glue to experience an altered state of mind, and children, and even some adults, practice cutting the blood to the brain by partial strangulation, which squeezes the carotid arteries that carry blood to the brain, inducing an euphoric state. People will always attempt to experience altered states of mind through whatever is available.
Another group of controlled substances, which can only be legally obtained with a doctor’s prescription in Canada, are anabolic steroids. ( There have been no prosecutions for possession or trafficking of steroids in Canada.) One study of gyms found that 15-30% of their clients used steroids, while another study found that 53% of the male gym users were using steroids, along with 42% of the female users. Gym users who use steroids take 10-100 times greater amounts than are used for therapeutic purposes. Usage can lead, among other things, to early heart attacks, strokes, liver damage, hepatitis, testicular shrinkage, infertility, and aggressive behaviour. Steroids work by increasing the levels of the male hormone testosterone, which in turn reduces its normal production. There have been cases where this has resulted in no testosterone being produced by the body, meaning that the users can never quit the use of steroids or face loss of libido, erectile dysfunction, increased body fat, bone loss, fatigue, depression, and even breast tissue growth. Some users who work in physically demanding jobs use steroids to improve their endurance and strength. One study, conducted over 7.4 years, has shown that the mortality rate of steroid users was three times higher than non-users. Studies also show that bodybuilders using steroids have a mean average time of death at between 45-48 years.
It is undeniable that schools should educate students about the risks of steroid use, gyms should be required to prominently display posters regarding the adverse effects of steroids, and dealers should be prosecuted. A campaign against steroids should be implemented in the same manner as the one against smoking. Steroids used in gyms originate from underground laboratories or legitimate pharmaceutical companies in countries with less stringent regulations. They can be purchased from illegal online websites or from dealers who frequent gyms. A vial of injectable steroids that lasts for 10 to 20 weeks sells for $16 to $25, while 300 oral steroids cost approximately $300. Even without exercise, an individual using steroids can gain 6.5 pounds of muscle in 10 weeks, and if combined with exercise, 13 pounds. It is also common for cocaine, amphetamines, and ecstasy to be readily available in gyms, often from the same dealers. Individuals who use steroids use them for similar reasons to those who are addicted to other legal and illegal drugs; they use them to appear impressive, to feel good about themselves, to impress their friends and romantic partners. Steroids, despite being prohibited, are widely used in sports to enhance speed, strength, and endurance. While it is widely known that seriously competitive athletes are frequently tested for steroid use, it is believed that some are still able to evade detection. Gang members who frequent gyms use steroids to increase their strength and to enhance their intimidating appearance.
As an elderly male, I have observed that many men years ago and earlier did not have the physiques of today. They lacked the bulging biceps, thick necks, and triangular physiques. This was an era when many men worked in physically demanding jobs. Ditch digging was done by hand, even canal construction was manual. Only hand saws were used for cutting lumber, and there were no nail guns. Farm labour was truly labour, not driving million-dollar harvesters. Yes, people were strong because they had to be. I am certain that many men today with muscle-bound physiques produced by steroids, would be entirely unable to keep up with the physical work performed by their forebears.
People use drugs for various reasons. They use them to feel good; they can produce intense feelings of warmth, pleasure, and excitement. Opioids flood the brain with the body’s natural reward system, dopamine. They detach the user from physical and emotional pain. The individual can feel free of stress and worry. In our skid roads, most people endure their hardships of sleeping on the sidewalks or living in small, unsanitary rooms in derelict hotels by using drugs to escape from the reality of their situation. It should also be noted that a considerable number of individuals have become addicted to drugs from their overuse of opioid medications, overprescribed by their doctors for pain relief. Many of the homeless people on the streets of our skid roads are fleeing from sexual, physical, or emotional abuse in their homes and communities, which unfortunately is all too common in remote communities in Canada, though some abuse does occurs in all regions.
Although we often associate drug use and the visibly addicted with skid roads, they represent only a small portion of the vast market for the gangs who supply the drugs. While opioids are the most commonly used drugs in the Skids, cocaine, particularly crack cocaine, is also in use, albeit to a lesser extent. Cocaine is often considered the drug of choice for employed middle-class and high-income individuals. It produces a sense of extreme happiness and invincibility. Colours, sounds, and physical touch may seem more intense, and libido is increased.
Some drugs, such as amphetamines, are used by students to enhance focus on school studies or increase productivity at school or work. Methamphetamines, a more potent form of amphetamine, were widely used during World War II to increase endurance, eliminate fatigue, and heighten endurance, particularly of ground troops. They were used by both American and British soldiers, as well as the Germans, enabling them to stay awake for up to three days. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military supplied its troops with vast quantities of methamphetamine. Pilots especially use them to help stay alert and focused during long missions. It is still suspected that they are still used today in all regions of conflict.
In Vietnam, heroin was readily available and inexpensive, and to a conscripted military of young soldiers who were unaware of their purpose, heroin became in common usage. Soldiers were involved in enormously stressful conditions during missions, especially those into the jungles, where they were never certain when they would be under fire. When they returned to the U.S. away from the stresses of war, almost all of them never touched heroin again. Although the decision to use drugs may be voluntary, it can lead on to addiction. Addiction affects the brain’s reward and decision-making capabilities. Even when the user is aware that the drug is causing harm, it is almost impossible to resist.
Although drugs are a blight on North America, the damage caused is minuscule compared to the damage caused in Central and South America by the cartels, who control entire countries with the substantial profits they make from selling their drugs into the United States and Canada. ( There are many other cartels in Asia and Africa, but I will focus on the Americas.) Cartels in Mexico, Colombia, Belize, Honduras, Bolivia, and Ecuador use their wealth to bribe high-ranking government officials, members of the judiciary, police, and others in positions of power. Anyone they wish to control is given one choice: “the bullet or the bribe.” In Mexico, they are so heavily armed that they almost outgun the army and police. Many of their weapons are smuggled in from the United States, and some are even stolen from military arsenals. Their informants at all levels provide them with details of any operations planned against them long in advance. In fact, things are more peaceful in Mexico when a strong cartel is in control. On the few occasions when a cartel is weakened by the arrest of its kingpin, all hell breaks loose as other cartels fight to assume the territory of the diminished cartel. No one is safe, and murders may soar into the thousands. Honest journalists who report on the cartels in Mexico are all in danger; Mexico has the highest murder rate for journalists anywhere in the world outside of active war zones. Poverty is a major driver for recruitment into the cartels. The cartels sometimes provide food packages, sanitizing supplies, and cash to poor communities, portraying themselves as beneficial to the community and thus cultivating their support. Many of the recruits into the cartels are children, aged between 13 and 15 years, who are attracted by the money, power, and prestige. They are viewed by the cartels as disposable. At that age, the frontal cortex of the brain, which controls reasoning and judgment, is not fully developed. They make ideal assassins, not questioning what they are doing, and even if caught, they receive much lesser prison sentences than older members. Amazingly, 20% of all employees in Mexico are cartel members. Drugs are smuggled into the U.S. by land, sea, air, and even underground through tunnels. The Department of Homeland Security in 2021 estimated that only 3% of the total volume of drugs coming into the U.S. is intercepted. The costs of growing and processing one ounce of cocaine can be estimated to be $35-50. It sells on the streets in North America for $1,000-$2,000. The cartels are also heavily involved in the production and smuggling of fentanyl, which has even larger profit margins than the more traditional drugs. ( A small percentage is also manufactured within the U.S. ) The cartels are not only involved in the drug trade; they are also heavily involved in extortions, kidnapping for ransoms, human trafficking, and every other form of criminal activity. Often, police are wary of investigating crimes committed by the cartels for fear they could also become victims.
In the 1980s, the U.S. was heavily involved in “ the Cold War,” fearing a takeover of the world by communism. They did not recognize the difference between socialism and communism. In Central America, they were working subversively to support rebel groups attempting to overthrow socialist governments or supporting right-wing oppressive governments. In Nicaragua, a rebel group, the Contras, was fighting to depose the socialist Sandinista government led by Daniel Ortega. The Americans sought to depose him because of his alignment with Russia and China. They actively assisted the Contras, supplying them with cash and weapons, and at the very least turned a blind eye to the Contras transporting Cocaine into the U.S. This activity formed the basis for movies such as America Made, Kill the Messenger, and Double Crossed.
During the 19th. Century the British East India Company was heavily involved in a three-way trade which involved transporting Opium from India for sale in China. They used the money from the sale of Opium to the Chinese to buy Chinese tea, which they then sold in England. The Chinese attempted unsuccessfully to stop the trade and executed some of the people involved in the trade. In 1842 and 1879, the British fought two wars against the Chinese to keep the trade open. They easily defeated the Chinese with their steam-driven ships and advanced artillery; consequently Opium was not fully outlawed in China until after the rise of the People’s Republic of China in 1952.
After my retirement in 2001, I joined Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) as a speaker. I often worked together with retired West Vancouver Judge Jerry Paradis; unfortunately, he was taken from us much too soon by his addiction to cigarettes. Leap members included a Governor General, six former Police Chiefs, including one from the U.K., the Mayor of Vancouver, the former Attorney General of B.C., the Detective Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard, who was the operational head of Narcotics for all of the U.K., amongst many others. LEAP has since grown to participate in all areas of the criminal justice system. The organization was founded by Jack Cole. Jack was a retired Detective Lieutenant with the New Jersey State Police, where he served for 26 years, 14 of them undercover. He has a degree in Criminology and a Master’s and Ph.D. in Public Policy. He joined the New Jersey State Police in 1964, and then the drug squad in 1970. During his first few years, as he put it, “they did not have much of a problem with drugs”; the drugs they were dealing with were mainly soft drugs Marijuana and Hashish. During this time, the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, a war they subsequently lost. There were massive demonstrations against the war, particularly by student groups. In 1970, the Ohio National Guard actually opened fire on students demonstrating at Kent State University, killing four students and injuring nine. Associated with the anti war demonstrations, and ofter by the same participants was the use of soft drugs. The slogan often associated with their movement was, “ make love not war”. President Nixon who was running for a second term in office made a key part of his re-election campaign, “ the War on Drugs. “ which in 1973 was ratified by congress. Significent funding was made to police departments to increase their enforcement of drug laws. The squad where Jack was working went overnight from 7 members to 76. With this increase, of course more arrests were expected. Jack’s role was to fraternize with what he called small friendship groups, high school students, college students and other groups of young people. On Fridays someone would ask, “ hey do you want to get high tonight ? “ or Jack would even ask the question himself. Whoever had a car or had access to their parents car would then drive into town, and pick up small amounts of drugs for the students, maybe a couple of joints for someone, a single dot of L.S.D for another, or a couple of grams of psilocybin, ( magic mushrooms ) for another. Their gas money was not even covered. This was repeated week after week until almost everyone had made the drive into town. Simultaneously he was also working in the same way with other groups. Eventually early one morning all those who had gone into town, maybe a hundred individuals were arrested, and bought down to the station and charged with trafficking, the press had been tipped off and were waiting, and the next day their names and faces were all over the news as “dangerous drug dealers arrested.” Generally they would be sentenced to seven years in jail, and with good behaviour they would get out in about two and a half years. They had been unable to complete their education, and had a police record which almost certainly denied them employment, and so many became drug dealers themselves, proliferating the problem. Because Marijuana was so easily identified by smell, and by its bulk, hard drugs which were more easily concealed began to proliferate, Heroin, Cocaine, Methamphetamines etc. They were much easier to conceal, however the users had no idea of their strength which depended on how much cutting agent the dealer had used, consequently overdose deaths began to proliferate, along with blood borne diseases such as Aids and Hep C. Jack spent the last two years of his career posing as a fugitive drug dealer wanted for murder, while tracking members of a terrorist organization that robbed banks, planted bombs in corporate headquarters, police stations and airplanes and, ultimately murdered a New Jersey State Trooper. After his retirement Jack came to regret his early days and went on to found LEAP. Its principal element is the legalization of all drugs. Drugs would be made available from government agencies thus guaranteeing their purity and uniform strength. They would be available at distribution centres, facilities similar to liquor stores in Canada. Jobless addicts in the skid roads would be supplied drugs at no cost. Others would buy their drugs at a very reasonable price, but much below the street price.
Addicts in the skid roads get their money to buy drugs in one of three ways, they steal, they commit B and Es, or they prostitute themselves.
If they had a steady, clean supply of drugs they would not have to be involved in any of these. Occasionally there had been a suggestion that as a first step, towards full decriminalizing of drugs, possession of small amounts of drugs should be decriminalized, but this would not apply to dealers, they would not protected from prosecution. This makes absolutely no sense, as users in the skid roads would still have to steal, or whatsoever to get money to buy their drugs, while dealers would still make their enormous profits. Decriminalization was tried in Canada, and it was of course a total failure and subsequently reversed.
If all drugs were legalized, distribution centres could supply sterile needles along with drugs, and with addicts no longer prostituting themselves for money to buy drugs, blood born diseases A.I.D.S Venereal Diseases, and Hepatitis would be much reduced. Medical costs would also be reduced with addicts no longer visiting emergency departments for overdoses, and other infections relating to the use of use of unregulated drugs. Of course you are all asking but won’t everyone want to use drugs, well ask your kids and grandkids, they are available everywhere today, and who do you want to be controlling the supply, the Hells Angels or the government. With pure supplies of the traditional street drugs available, some addicts may even be weaned off the cheaper more lethal, chemical drugs. With the immense profits to be made from the sale of drugs taken away from the murderous drug gangs, they would be decimated, and in Mexico and Central America, the Cartels would lose their vast North American market and they would also be considerably reduced. Even the flow of illegal immigrants fleeing countries overrun by those cartels would be reduced, as normality returns to those countries.
We have been fighting the war on drugs for at least 100 years now, if it had worked we would have been drug free a long time ago. Education plays an important role in controlling drug abuse, tobacco use which is one of top most addictive substances is legal, yet through education it’s use has been reduced to 10% of what is was 40 years ago.
Between 1920 and 1933 alcohol was criminalized in the U.S because of its deleterious effects. Almost immediately illegal outlets known as Speakeasies opened, and in some instances more alcohol was consumed than before but at increased prices, increasing profits to the owners. Viscous gangs supplied the Speakeasies, corruption became endemic, even amongst policemen who themselves, enjoyed alcoholic beverages. Alcohol was produced in, underground distilleries, or imported from Canada. There was uncontrolled warfare amongst the gangs each seeking to control the market, murders became so commonplace that the Government eventually legalized alcohol, and EVERYONE DIDN’T BECOME AN ALCOHOLIC OVERNIGHT.
Every few months police members appear before cameras parading large drug seizures they have made, often after working on the project for months and sometimes years, they invariably make the statement that “the seizure will certainly make a hole into the supply of drugs,” but in reality it never makes any difference. There are always others waiting to take their place. Even when the head of a Cartel is arrested in Mexico and extradited to the U.S, the drug supply remains undiminished.
Cannabis was legalized in Canada in 2018 and you know what happened……NOTHING. Prior to it’s legalization many feared that motor vehicle accidents would soar, and there would be many other negative effects; that did not happen the reverse in fact was true, marijuana users who drove realized they may be impaired and tended to drive more slowly and carefully, wheras those who abused alcohol tend to speed and drive aggressively. When marijuana users who were driving were stopped, and tested by police for intoxication using standardized tests for sobriety, such as with closed eyes touching a finger to their nose, walking heel to toe in a straight line and then making a turn, and standing still while on one leg, they performed perfectly. Individuals using marijuana are rarely agressive unlike alcohol abusers who were frequently behave very aggressively. Also unlike alcohol abusers marijuana users suffer from no hangovers the next day. There were a series of tests carried out where marijuana users were giving tests as to their ability to remember sequences of numbers, solve puzzles etc. They were first tested before using marijuana and later after using marijuana when they were very “high”, surprisingly their test scores were identical, before and after using marijuana. I am not saying that all drug users should be driving, clearly those using hallucinations such as L.S.D or Magic Mushrooms should not be, or those nodding off having consumed Opioids. What I attempting to say is that if all drugs were legalized the, “sky would not fall.”
The legalization sale and control of narcotics would have many other benefits. Property crimes B and E’s, shoplifting, theft from autos etc, are almost all are committed by addicts, they would be much reduced. With quality control of the supply of drugs most overdose deaths would disappear. Counselling and admission to residential treatment centres could be immediately available on request at the distribution centres, all funded from the sale of narcotics, allowingnsome addicts to escape from the monkey on their backs, and re-enter the workforce. Today when addicts wish to escape their addiction, counselling and admission to a drug rehabilitation centre can be weeks or even months away. Money from the sale of drugs could also be used to fund education programmes for students, about the dangers of experimenting with drugs. Tobacco is a legal substance yet education has reduced its use tenfold in the last forty years. Better services would be provided by police both by the overall reduction of all calls, and it would also free up police members tied up on lengthy investigations into drug distribution networks, investigations that never reduce the flow of narcotics. The courts would function in a more timely fashion with the workload much reduced by the absence of narcotic charges.
The War on Drugs for many years prevented any further research involving psychedelics. ( drugs which significantly alter perceptions, and can produce hallucinations, these drugs include L.S.D, Psilocybin, Peyote and Ibogaine ) They have since the ban has been lifted in many regions been found to have immense value in Psychiatry. It is suspected they can almost immediately open up new connections in the brain ) Psilocybin ( found in magic mushrooms ) particularly has been found to be very successful in relieving chronic depression, relieving the symptoms of P.T.S.D, and enabling patients with life ending diseases to accept their situations, look back on their lives with pleasure, and be released from thoughts of death constantly filling their minds.
A surprising result was found in Israel which was reported by Neuro Scientists at the Haifa University; survivors of the viscous Hamas attack at the Nova music festival who were high on M.D.M.A ( Ecstasy ) have experienced lower levels of psychological trauma, and have coped better in the months following the attack when compared than those who were not high.
The War on Drugs is a huge strain on policing in so many ways and entirely ineffective. No legalizing drugs won’t be Utopia, but it would be a huge step in the right direction. I’m reminded of the old saying, “ if you’re in a hole quit digging.”
Tony Ferdinand 
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