DRUG WAR RAGES, BUT 'TRAFFIC' IS UNABATED

By Brian Costin

"Traffic," a film written by Stephen Gaghan and directed by Steven Soderbergh, is an excellent movie.  But the important news about the movie is its message.  It shows how the war on drugs has failed.

A decade ago there couldn't be Best Picture and Best Director awards from the New York Critics' Circle or any Oscar buzz about such a topic.  It's astonishing how far popular opinion has moved in the libertarian direction that this movie could be made at all.

"Traffic" has a message that we should examine closely.  First, that the drug war simply doesn't work; that demand is too big, the border too long, and the opportunities for corruption too great.  Second, that it's hypocritical to outlaw some drugs while allowing people to freely use others: alcohol and tobacco.  Third, that the one and maybe only way we can win the fight against drugs is to win it in our own lives and help others escape the grasp of the drug culture.

It's time to start arguing for the right of individuals to decide for themselves what they will put into their own bodies, and to decide for themselves whether it's become a problem they need to control.  Maybe the Libertarian Party has been right after all.  It's time to rid ourselves of this crime cesspool of drug cartels and gangsters, just as we did when we learned from our Prohibition mistakes of 80 years ago.

When you fight the drug war with guns and bullets, we end up with cartels around the world and gangs on our streets.  How many innocent people and police officers have been killed because we have chosen to fight our drug problem this way? Somehow, even with all the drug arrests made in the last 30 years, it is still easier for our children to get their hands on illegal drugs than alcohol or tobacco.

But as "Traffic" shows, when you fight the war with families, friends and support groups, you just might find that we will win the drug war.

Brian Costin, Normal

Published: Sun, 21 Jan 2001
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)