Staying in the present is a damn struggle for most. A neurodivergent indulged in marijuana quite frequently, I used a lot of cognitive dissonance when it comes to the substance. Why? Anyone who has consumed an illicit drug is fueling the social destruction of Latin America. In the same vein, marijuana has given me some of the best fucking ideas I have come up with ever. Probably because I was higher than cloud 15. The crack epidemic was a source of social de6nigration here in the States. It gave the United States government as well as other governments around the world a reason to declare a “war on drugs”. We often discuss it as a moral reason to go after drug organizations and culture but was it purely moral? I beg to differ. It was mostly a war on money and finances that the United States had no way of controlling. Given, the United States had passed a few laws in the beginning of the 20th century, regarding the influx of marijuana, codeine and other “illicit” drugs. This was nothing new. However, once Pablo[Escobar] started raking in 5 billion a year, Reagan and his corporations had enough. It was time to put a stop to so much uncontrolled money leaving the United States.
The war was declared in 1982 when Ronald Reagan decided it was a threat to our national security. He was not wrong. During the 80’s, the number of cocaine users increased by around 1.6 million. Cocaine and marijuana was poppin and droppin in the 1980s and people were overdosing on coke massively. Families were being ripped apart, which overarchingly affected the inner city Black America(one in three black males in their 20’s incarcerated during this time period). The war also exacerbated violence since they decided to jail the huge kingpins–leaving power vaccums for free pickings. The government ramped up arrests, special operations in Central and South America and they even succeeded in killing/incarcerating top cartels of Colombia(Medillin & Cali Cartel) as well as Miguel Gallardo(Guadelajara cartel) and Co. Don’t forget,the full-blown campaign for kids to not do drugs through DARE(DRUG ADDICTION RESISTANCE EDUCATION).. Shit, they even came to my school too.
Nonetheless, the United States lost. The crack epidemic ultimately led to the opioid crisis. There is now a large underclass of people convicted for selling crack cocaine and marijuana, while people are allowed licenses to sell it in many states. Production did not halt as was envisioned and it allowed for new cartels to grow and seize power. Rebel groups in Colombia took advantage of the brouhaha as well and coca still grows free of charge. The real war was against the consumer and average joe of the Americas. This war was supposed to help increase the wellbeing of their society. It didn’t because they failed to ask the real questions. What was driving people to sell their souls for substances? Could the mode of production for more gentle drugs like marijuana be grown at home to lessen the power of these cartels? A major node in this system was that the political and social climate was tense. Life was hard, especially in urban areas. Drugs and consumption to distract from the pain was the only way out because the government was focused on fighting communism.
The drug trade, in so many ways, is quite similar to the slave trade of the Atlantic Ocean. There was a “war on slavery” but how much of the problem did it solve when they banned the importation of enslaved Africans in 1807. Was it actually because of the multiple rebellions(especially Haiti)? Rising prices in enslaved persons? Or the tempting prospect of emulating poor Virginian planters–allow the enslaved population to grow so it would fuel labor needs. These were all true, most likely. Of course, the moral reasons were there but the economic reasons won out in British Parliment & beyond. It didn’t solve the damage done to both the “white” psyche and the black “psyche. The system of plantation society in 1665 was ingrained in the Caribbean, Brazil as well as the United States and bled into its justice system as well as the socioeconomic dynamics of rich vs. poor. In Atlantic Africa, the goods produced by raw materials those very same people enslaved created a consumer base. A consumer base addicted to power, guns, liquor and tobacco. Putting an end to consuming left a very gaping question. What was there to do next to diversify? Your neighbors were going wild, and becoming rich selling their neighbors…which might include YOU! The world is a system run by anonymous souls. And that system, my good people, is the system of consumption.