War on Drugs = Support Terrorism

In a glorious case of turnabout-is-fair-play, the Libertarian Party has launched its own ad campaign, similar in style to the one launched by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) that equates buying drugs with supporting terrorism. One of the ads (PDF document), featuring the haggard visage of the U.S. drug czar (who is highly in favor of punitive controls of drugs − i.e. continuing the drug war) with the caption:

<q>This week, I had lunch with the President, testified before Congress, and helped funnel $40 million in illegal drug money to groups like the Taliban. … If you support the War on Drugs or vote for the politicians who wage it, you’re helping support terrorism.</q>

The article, Libertarian Party runs provocative anti-War on Drugs newspaper ads clarifies:

<q> … The Drug Czar wants to tell the 94 million Americans who have peacefully used illegal drugs that they are helping terrorism. That’s nonsense. … The fact is, the War on Drugs, the politicians who vote for it, and the bureaucrats who administer it are the best friends that terrorists ever had. We want voters to know that federal drug policy is making America less safe.</q>

As was noted in an earlier article covering an interview with Chomsky, most analysts, including the government’s own RAND think-tank, agree that treatment, prevention and education are the best ways to address the drug problem. The proposed budget for the ONDCP includes less than 1/3 earmarked for those programs. The rest is for the continued criminalization of drugs.