If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It
The war on drugs is and will always be one of the most laborious wars the United States will ever face. We're fighting this war on our home soil, on the streets, in our neighborhoods, our schools, and possibly, in our own homes. The drug war is everywhere, and we need to keep fighting and doing what we are doing to stop our youth from ending up as drug addicts or ending up in jail. A fraction of the government spending on the war against drugs is towards youth prevention programs such as D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). Youth prevention programs can be extremely influential and informative in order for kids to learn what drugs are, why kids use drugs, as well as how and why to avoid them. For years it has been the belief that education and prevention will do far better in the destruction of the drug trade, rather than trying to continue what we are doing now. Trying to fight each and every last drug dealer, for which there have and always will be increasing numbers of drug dealers, is impossible. Ronald Reagan said in a speech from 1981 “It’s far more effective if you take the customers away than if you try to take the drugs away from those who want to be customers.” This proves that we know what we need to do, yet for years we've been pouring money in the opposite direction. Educating our youth and teaching them that drugs are bad, and maybe emphasizing the importance of happiness and education could be a lot more profitable for our country than anything else. Making drugs more available, nor making them more scary to use will help anything. Keeping the country off drugs through education is the only effective way to begin changing our society for the better.