[TheKidster]

17,000 Americans dead

That’s part of the price we pay for enforcing a black market monopoly on narcotics. How many would be alive if we used the drug war money on treatment instead of interdiction and user criminalization?

[gandalftb]

Yes, and my point is that it makes little sense to be chasing drug dealers down the streets one at a time for a few grams of coke or heroin. When we have entire narco-countries like Afghanistan and Venezuela directly and intentionally benefiting from drugs, that we could militarily stop all together.

Why do we have a military? Isn't this it's highest use? Keeping our citizens alive? Our military is not some global "Ultimate Fighting Championship" competitor.

We need to prioritize based on body count, it's just that simple.