OPINION : Drug War is "Horrendous"

To what degree do we separate opinion and fact?

This is an opinion piece, though "Drug War is 'Horrendous'" sounds like a fact. I've seen stories of innocent people killed in bad raids. I've seen stories of children taken from their parents by the State over a bowl and a few grams of marijuana. This is not acceptable. This is not what justice and law was put here to do.

We've seen a time of police state establishment unlike any other: the Boston Bombing manhunt where iron-clad war vehicles rolled down suburban streets "cold-calling" houses and searching without warrant. Circumstance does not matter: we NEED to stop forfeiting our rights so easily!

Every time you file taxes, you are supporting the drug war. Every time you don't film a cop making an arrest, you are supporting the drug war. We need to wake up and put our collective foot down on the illegal branches of our government as well as the illegal use of surveillance that is so clearly occurring, (thanks Snowden).

NA Poe declared boldly in pre-trial that the fact that he wasn't being released that day was "horrendous" and right he was. Everything about the drug war is horrendous. We've made a horror show of our fringe communities like Kensington and North Philadelphia because we consistently refuse to address the drug problem in a real way.

Cops are content getting paid to be big boy security safety officers. Drug addicts are content getting drugs illegally. City services is content hauling away the corpses of the OD victims. Everything in the system seems so utterly unchangeable, even when talking about the lives of family... friends... loved ones...

Addiction is an illness, but like Mitch Hedberg said,

"Alcoholism is the only disease you can get in trouble for. Compare these two sentences; 'Dammit Mitch, you're an alcoholic.' and 'Dammit Mitch, you have lupus.' One does not sound like the other."

We can and must do better. Sign a petition. Join an event. Do SOMETHING. Just don't be another generation of quiet, closet-hidden hippies in fear of the law like we saw in the 60's. Plug a gun with something better than a flower. Let's get back to basics.