January 09, 2004

Jarobe Brooks was not stationed in Afghanistan, nor was he patrolling the streets of Baghdad. Jarobe was not even old enough to serve in the military, but at ten years old his life was cut short by a bullet allegedly fired in a dispute over drugs or drug turf. On Sunday Jarobe Brooks became "collateral damage" in the US Governments War on Drugs.

The Brownsville section of Miami is not unlike other inner city areas in the United States. It's landscape is dotted with abandoned buildings (mostly "public" housing) with boarded up windows and empty lots many of which have been overtaken by weeds. Drive through Brownsville and you will see idle young men full of the energy of youth, loitering on corners, alleys and apartment steps. Many may be innocently "chilling" or "hanging out" but others are working, either serving "clients" (drug buyers) or looking out for "the man" (police). Brownsville has the dubious distinction of having the highest violent crime rate in Miami-Dade County. That's the environment Jarobe dealt with during his ten year existence, thanks mostly to decisions made by politicians when it came to drug prohibition.

But if police weren't involved in the shooting why blame the governments War on Drugs for Jarobe's death? If there were no War on Drugs thugs would not be shooting at each other and innocents over illegal narcotics. Criminals are not interested in legal businesses or employment. If drugs were legal like alcohol the violence that accompanies its illicit status would simply not exist. History has clearly shown that making a substance illegal hence more profitable to sell and distribute, attracts violent criminals to its trade while legalization does away with the hoodlums interest in the commodity.

Why do some politicians and talking heads continue to espouse the drug war despite its obvious ineffectiveness and shortcomings? There are many reasons including money and power. The money spent on law enforcement and the government employment opportunities provided by the war are also responsible for perpetuating it. Politicians preying on many of its constituents confused fears see support for the drug war as a sure fire way of getting votes. The hypocrisy of the war came front and center when conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh after being outed by a tabloid confessed to his illicit abuse of the prescription drug oxyconton, and who can forget Bill Clinton's "I didn't inhale" joke. For politicians and the well connected recreational drug use is an indiscretion. For the poor and downtrodden it's a crime.

Let's not overlook the governments increased police powers and erosion of civil liberties due to the war. Depositing large sums of cash can attract the attention of the IRS and DEA. Zero tolerance policies allow the government to seize private property without due process or a conviction. The second and fourth amendments to the constitution have been trampled in the name of the war on drugs.

Jarobe's death is not an isolated incident nor are the casualties of this war confined to US inner cities. In April of 2001 Veronica Bowers, 35, and her 7-month-old adopted daughter Charity were shot and killed while riding in a Cessna airplane through the Andes by Peruvian air force jets. The Peruvian air force was working with the CIA which detected the Cessna packed with missionaries, but suspected it was on a drug run. Many excuses were given, but the fact remains that a child and her mother were killed in the name of the drug war.

Missionaries aren't the only victims of the drug war in South America. Farmers and city dwellers alike are confronted daily with murder, kidnaping and terrorism in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, thanks in most part to the war on drugs. Drug traffickers from Seattle to La Paz are attracted by the astronomical profits of the trade, created by US policies.The high profits are the catalyst for deadly turf wars from the jungles of Colombia, to the back alleys of South Central L. A.

Will ending the drug war put an end to violence in the inner cities and parts of South America? Most certainly not, violent crime is caused by many factors. But ending the war on drugs will dry up a large source of income for countless criminal enterprises, and lower the level of fear with which residents of inner city areas live with on a daily basis. Nor will putting and end to the drug war solve the problems of drug abuse and addiction, but these problems are better taken care of by families, churches and private organizations than by bureaucrats or jail (Just ask Rush). Ending the drug war will not Bring Jarobe, Veronica or other victims of the drug war back, but it will make life a lot less precarious in the inner cities of America and on the streets of South America, not too mention a lot freer for the rest of us.

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