This one time, in Afghanistan

Evil Plants of Death

CNN is showing a special on Afghanistan. Apparently, the Taliban is making a comeback. Why? Because we don't have enough troops there. (I know where we could get a hundred thousand troops, but apparently that's not an option).

So what does an Afghani man or woman do for money these days? They grow poppies, which are turned into heroin. Growing poppies is 8 times more profitable then growing wheat in Afghanistan. What are we doing to stop it? We're going around trying to get rid of all the poppies! Perfect! No problems with this strategy!

This one time, there was this country called Columbia, and they manufactured a lot of cocaine. But luckily, Reagan formed the DEA, we defoliated large areas of the country (defoliated being a great euphemism) and today, theres, um, still a crapload of cocaine. Fortunately, we've killed a bunch of Columbians, which I'm sure is helpful somehow.

The problem with drugs isn't the supply, its the demand. It turns out that junkies will do a lot for cocaine or heroin. But rather than try and rehabilitate people, we burn down coca crops, or destroy farmland in Afghanistan.

Two things:

1. If you are a heroin addict, you'll do anything for heroin.
2. If you're starving and have no money, sometimes you're willing to grow plants that are, gasp, illegal.

I wish we could stop trying to solve every problem with force. Maybe some people use drugs because they are addicted to drugs, and they should be helped rather than sent to jail. Maybe some people grow drugs because they can't afford to grow anything else, and we should give them alternatives. (And by alternatives, I mean real jobs, not wheat. I swear to God, our country has told people to grow bananas instead of cocaine and to grow wheat instead of opium. These are supposed to be Adam Smith free market people, but apparently, they don't understand their own theories).

Or maybe not. Maybe people are just weak, lazy and/or evil. Yeah, that's probably it.