I just returned from the United Nations where there is a special session on the drug problems. This is a serious and complex issue, but the war on drugs, where we have spent over $1 trillion, has been an abject failure. Drugs are still readily plentiful in the United States, the cost is down, and we have caught hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Latin American countries in the crossfire. Yet, the United States is on the sidelines here. There are countries that are stepping forward for reform, for harm reduction, trying to deal with the death penalty. Yet, the United States is trying to balance out the reformers of seeking a middle ground between them and Iran and China and Russia. That is not what the United States should be doing. We should be involved in reform. We should minimize the danger that is a result of misguided practice. We can deescalate this and make a difference for people around the world and, in fact, do a better job of dealing with the drug problem in America. ____________________
Share & report
More from Earl Blumenauer
We are going to pick up where we left off over the weekend, sort of the high school drama about governing the House of Representatives. We have some people who are playing with fire. We have watched them work to the brink. It happened…
We have heard claims from Republican leadership that they passed a bill to lift the debt ceiling. That is laughable. What they did was pass a wish list to reassure their most extreme Members. Make no mistake: They have no plan. I just…
I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, listening on the floor of the House, there are arguments that are legitimate in terms of the shortcomings of this. It is not perfect, but I don't want the perfect to be the enemy of the…
In the last 1\1/2\ years, we have seen the horrific impact of overturning the right to an abortion, and the assault continues. The Supreme Court just announced that it would be hearing a challenge to the Biden administration's policy that…





