What Uncle Sam Really Wants: on Drugs


Drug War is an excuse for US military intervention abroad

Now when some client state complains that the US isn’t sending it enough money, they no longer say “we need it to stop the Russians,”-rather, “we need it to stop drug trafficking.” Like the Soviet threat, this enemy provides a good excuse for a US military presence where there’s rebel activity or other unrest.
Source: What Uncle Sam Really Wants, by Noam Chomsky, p. 82-83 Jan 13, 1991

Target tobacco & alcohol instead of marijuana

At the time the drug war was launched, deaths from tobacco were estimated at about 300,000 a year, with perhaps another 100,000 from alcohol. But these aren’t the drugs the Bush administration targeted. It went after illegal drugs, which had caused many fewer deaths-3,500 a year.

The administration also targeted marijuana, which hadn’t caused any known deaths among some 60 million users. In fact, the crackdown exacerbated the drug problem.

Source: What Uncle Sam Really Wants, by Noam Chomsky, p. 83-84 Jan 13, 1991

  • The above quotations are from What Uncle Sam Really Wants, by Noam Chomsky.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Drugs.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Noam Chomsky on Drugs.
2016 Presidential contenders on Drugs:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
Gov.Mike Huckabee(AR)
Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI) 		Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
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Page last updated: Feb 26, 2019