Valdes on the US Drug Problems and the DOJ Report

The author finds a little bit of institutional hypocrisy from the US government:

One hundred thousand individuals, who represent 52 percent of the total of federal prisoners, are convicts for crimes related to drugs. The US government will allocate $14 billion for the treatment, prevention, combat, and foreign aid to combat drugs.

[Break]

From that amazing data inevitable questions emerge. If that country has more than 35 million addicts, why do they portion only $400 for each one of them to reign in the problem? The total figure is impressive (14 billion), but it's ridiculous considering the extension and gravity of the problem. Why don't the politicians in the United States, a country that fancies itself as the champion of individual liberty, commit to the legalization of drugs? Isn't at least plausible to propose that what each adult consumes is exclusively his business? Shouldn't a tax be established on consumption (as is the case with alcohol and tobacco) to cover the cost that we all pay to alleviate the damage of addiction, from armed violence to the destruction of health? That number of consumers deserves it?

Good points all, especially the gap between the number of addicts and the money to treat them.