Acceptable Casualties

 

By Neil Parker

 

 

Acceptable casualties. That’s what it’s called in a military conflict when the number killed and wounded is deemed acceptable in light of objectives achieved. It would seem that America’s so-called “War on Drugs” also has acceptable casualties--the thousands killed and maimed each year by drunk drivers, and the many more thousands who die prematurely from tobacco use or are the victims of alcohol-related crimes. The carnage apparently is acceptable because as a society we seem utterly incapable of comprehending the very obvious source of the problem and then doing something about it.

 

In spite of what you may have heard, and what our government would have you believe, the much-ballyhooed War on Drugs is a complete and total farce. There is no more of a popular will in this country to eliminate drugs than there is to colonize the moon, in spite of sporadic reports of what appears to be success. The reason for this can be summed up in two words--legal drugs.

 

At the same time the arbitrarily defined illegal drugs are vilified, two legal drugs of choice, alcohol and nicotine, are not only tolerated but embraced by our culture. On a continual basis, publications and other media glorify some aspect of alcohol production or consumption, the concoction of mixed drinks, or the local bar scene. Grocery stores unashamedly devote entire aisles and coolers to trafficking in one of the most dangerous and destructive of all drugs, while alcohol and tobacco companies cleverly ingratiate themselves into the culture by using their blood money to sponsor popular sporting events and donate to worthy causes.

 

Alcohol is frequently associated with almost every bad thing you can think of--highway crashes, accidents resulting in injury or death, rape, teenage and unwanted pregnancy, spouse and family abuse, inability to get or keep a job, damaged health, brawls, and rude, offensive, idiotic behavior of all kinds. And yet there persists the idea in many people’s minds that the “responsible” drinker bears no responsibility for any of this. By what contortions of logic can anyone claim that intentionally ingesting poison, in whatever amount for whatever reason, constitutes responsible behavior? The myth of “responsible drinking” is second in magnitude only to the myth that there is a serious war against drugs in this country.

 

Another reason that responsible drinking is a myth is more subtle. There is a fallacious argument used to defend unhealthy and immoral practices that says that if no one else is harmed, then it must be ok, or at the least, none of anyone else’s business. Not true. When drinking is widespread and highly tolerated, even romanticized and glorified as it is in our culture, there is little of the societal stigma that would discourage its use. In other words, drinking begets drinking, and society as a whole is brought to a lower and coarser level.

 

But perhaps you prefer facts and figures to mere opinion. Data compiled by the MADD organization reveals the following: (all figures are for the U.S.) About 17,000 people die each year in alcohol-related highway crashes. In 2001, more than 500,000 people were injured in traffic accidents where police reported that alcohol was present. Alcohol-related crashes cost the public an estimated 114 billion dollars in the year 2000. About three of every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives. And 40% of all crimes are committed under the influence of alcohol. In addition to the direct costs to victims, the hidden costs are substantial, and are passed along to all of us.

 

Nicotine, which in days gone by was used in miniscule amounts as a powerful insecticide, is no slouch either when it comes to the ability to decimate its users. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that over 400,000 people die prematurely each year due to tobacco-related illnesses. Moreover, tobacco use results in more deaths each year in the U.S. than AIDS, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, homicide, suicide, motor vehicle crashes, and fires combined. Clearly and indisputably, the death, injury, and economic cost that result from our societal love affair with alcohol and tobacco completely dwarf the similar bitter fruits from all the illegal drugs combined! And yet we continue to allow these sacred cows to eat us alive while claiming to conduct some sort of war on drugs. The stupidity and hypocrisy of this is simply off the charts.

 

No, we won’t win the war on drugs, and that is because we have failed to declare war on the worst drugs of all. Trying to eradicate the drugs we have arbitrarily made illegal while tolerating alcohol and tobacco is like attempting to rid your house of rats while ignoring the elephants crashing about destroying your furniture. In this make-believe war, we are not only sleeping with the enemy, but allowing that enemy to drive our cars and write checks on our bank accounts. As long as we as a society continue to do that, we are just so much cannon fodder in the phony war on drugs. If it hasn’t happened already, it is just a matter of time before you or your loved ones or friends add to the long and growing list of acceptable casualties. Unlike in military conflicts, however, you won’t be able to take solace in knowing or believing that your sacrifice purchased any worthwhile objectives.