The #1 Drug Problem in America?

Are you kidding me? The Bush Administration continues to stand by it's assertion that marijuana is the #1 drug problem in America. It's not surprising that the leaders of our Federal government have NO IDEA or atleast won't admit what actual risks this country faces (it's not the bird flu or killer bees either Georgie).

Today's New York Times featured an article (Hospitals Say Meth Cases Are Rising, and Hurt Care, Kate Zernike) about the increasing rates of methamphetamine-related problems that are affecting our hospitals and children.

"Though a relatively small number of total emergency room visits are for illicit drugs, the hospitals said methamphetamine was by far the leading drug problem.
Forty-seven percent of hospitals, and 57 percent in the Northwest, said methamphetamine caused more emergency room visits than any other drug, while 16 percent cited marijuana, 15 percent cocaine and 1 percent heroin."

So FACTS point to a rising Meth problem in America with serious effects, yet I continue to see those commericals on t.v. that accuse pot smokers of killing kids on bikes, leaving little brothers on baseball fields in the dark, and teenage pregrnancy. The justice system continues to incarcerate people for pot-related offenses when this government money (i.e. our taxes) should be spend on solutions to REAL RISKS.

But in the end, this is what everything comes down to: MONEY. The government can't make money off of meth-users because they are strung out, can't hold down jobs and just do not have money. They are costing our systems (hospitals and child services) increasingly more, but the government does not necessarily have to increase it's funding for these services. It's MUCH easier to set the #1 priority on marijuana and collect $500 possession fees from rich kids at Phish concerts, aging hippies who are against the WAR, and young black men who are trying to make some money in a society that has not exactly given them every opportunity to do otherwise. I can't help feeling that this will catch up to us.

Let's hope for a Congress win in 2006, impeachment hearings on the basis of EVERYTHING the Bush Administration has done thus far, and a new President who values fact over money.