David Obey: “I grew up in an era where drug use was a rarity. I hate a lot of things that have happened to this society. I hate what…”

“I grew up in an era where drug use was a rarity. I hate a lot of things that have happened to this society. I hate what has happened to our cities because of drugs, and I have to say that drugs are not just a big city problem. My hometown is a city of less than 35,000 people, and yet we have even seen the problem there. I do not think anybody ought to use drugs, and I think we need to have a strong policy in this country that discourages drugs. I think much of the money that we spend abroad to interdict drugs is wasted. I was told several years ago by a person who had been responsible for administering the antidrug interdiction programs under the Reagan administration that their private view was that nothing was working internationally because of the nature of the capitalistic system worldwide which, unfortunately, rewards a profit motive even for evil products. I think we do have two fundamental problems in this country. One is how we go about effectively reducing drug use; and second, in that effort, how we do so in a way which saves the most possible lives.”