Rand Paul Last Week: ‘I Want to End the War on Drugs’

On his
HBO show last Friday, Bill Maher
asked Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) about
remarks he made in 2000 concerning the war on drugs: 

Maher: You said in 2000, “The war on drugs is
an abysmal failure and a waste of money.” Are you still on that
page?

Paul: I’m absolutely there, and I’ll do
everything to end the war on drugs….The war on drugs has become
the most racially disparate outcome that you have in the entire
country. Our prisons are full of black and brown kids.
Three-fourths of the people in prison are black or brown, and white
kids are using drugs, Bill, as you know…at the same rate as these
other kids. But kids who have less means, less money, kids who are
in areas where police are patrolling…Police are given monetary
incentives to make arrests, monetary incentives for their own
departments. So I want to end the war on drugs because it’s wrong
for everybody, but particularly because poor people are caught up
in this, and their lives are ruined by it. 

It is encouraging to hear Paul reiterate his opposition to the
war on drugs in general, as opposed to particular aspects of it
(such as overfederalizaton, mandatory minimum sentences, and civil
asset forfeiture). Although it is still not entirely
clear what
he means by ending the war on drugs, the disparities that worry
him cannot be fully addressed as long as the government continues
to arrest people for supplying arbitrarily proscribed
intoxicants.