Conscripted in the Drug War

John Paul Barber is a reader and a listener who was arrested 20 years ago for selling cocaine and served time in federal prison.  He lives in Appalachia and has seen the casualties of the opiates crisis first hand. 

Hey Lynn,

You mentioned in your email you were surprised that I'd been in federal prison. I'm not exactly sure what you meant but I assume you meant you were surprised my crime was serious enough to warrant federal attention [yes, this is what I meant]. Well, most people wouldn't think it warranted federal attention. I was only 19 years old when I got busted so I hadn't been alive long enough to be a kingpin or anything. At first my charges were only state charges, but after about six months the local authorities turned my case over to the Feds by putting me on a conspiracy indictment with six other guys. I only knew one of them. The reason they do this is because federal sentencing guidelines are way more harsh than state guidelines. It looks better in the local newspaper and on the cops' resumes if the crooks they bust get lengthy prison sentences. If my charges had stayed at the state level, I would've most likely gotten probation as a first-time offender. Instead I received 75 months in prison plus 5 years of probation upon release. I also had a $40,000 drug tax that I owed. I never paid it. I just had bad credit for ten years until it came off my credit report. The group they put me on the conspiracy case with was the first time my local officials turned a drug case over to the Feds. Apparently it worked well for them because they did it to about a hundred more drug dealers after that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to make any kind of excuses or portray that I was treated unfairly by the authorities. I knew I was breaking the law and there were consequences for that. At the time though, I didn't realize the consequences could be so severe. I played with fire and got burnt and I take full responsibility for it. I also learned a very valuable lesson... easy money is rarely ever worth it. The best throw of the dice is to throw them away.

Like I said before, the drug war issue was what first got me interested in politics. With all that time on my hands I had plenty of opportunity to think about things. I became curious as to how a 19 year old kid who'd never been in trouble before could get six years in prison for selling somebody something they wanted. A friend of mine in prison loaned me a book called Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do (The Absurdity Of Consensual Crimes In Our Free Country) by Peter McWilliams. Peter was a fag who died of AIDS and lymphoma. He got in trouble for growing over 4,000 pot plants that he distributed to co-ops for medical marijuana patients.

Anyway, I read that book and quickly became an advocate for drug legalization and also took several other libertarian political positions. As I've gotten older my views have changed quite a bit. With regard to drug legalization I had an a-ha moment about eight or ten years ago when it dawned on me what the results would be. Most all of the violence associated with illegal drugs in America is perpetrated by blacks and Hispanics. So what would these people do if dope started being sold in stores like cigarettes and alcohol? Do you think they'd all go get jobs and become fine upstanding citizens? Hell no, they'd start robbing, extorting, and kidnapping for a living if they couldn't make money selling dope. At least in the drug business most of the violence is limited to other participants in the drug game. Them killing each other is a eugenics program as far as I'm concerned. Regular folks would be the main ones targeted for robbery, extortion, and kidnapping in a world of legalized drugs.

Advocates for drug legalization usually bring up the fact that drugs used to be legal in America many years ago and we didn't have anywhere near the problems with it that we do today. This is true. You could go to a pharmacy and buy cocaine and morphine if you wanted it. But it was also when we were a 90% White, Christian country. I live in majority White Appalachia where we have some of the highest drug addiction rates per capita in the country. Yet we have hardly any violent crime. Sure we have plenty of breaking and enterings and petty theft, but people here aren't killing each other in the streets over dope. There's not a trailer park full of junkies in my whole county that I wouldn't feel safe walking through by myself or with you or anyone else. That said, I'm not even going to entertain the thought of drug legalization in a White ethnostate. Anybody who thinks a White ethnostate is ever going to happen in America needs to be drug tested themselves.

Yes, it's true that Big Pharma, Politicians, and Law Enforcement have big-time interests in keeping the system the way it is. But at the end of the day, nobody's forcing drug addicts to put that poison in their bodies. They do it by their own hand. It's a two-way street and where there's a demand, a supply will always be met. I blame a decay in overall moral character as the biggest cause of America's drug problem. I'm not all that religious but I'll be the first to admit most drug addicts need Jesus more than they need rehab.

So what kind of solutions do I propose? Well, as you can guess, definitely not legalization. However, the drug war itself is a total joke and a waste of time. I think drugs should remain technically illegal and kept as an underground activity because at least the dangerous element of it will deter some people from getting involved in drugs. At the same time, I also think law enforcement should take a hands off approach toward drug dealing and drug buying. Kinda like how we treat sodomy laws today. It's technically illegal in a lot of states to be a faggot but nobody gets arrested for it. Selling drugs is a great jobs program for the black and Hispanic community and keeps them from committing more real crimes against regular folks who aren't involved in the drug trade. And let's face it, what race of people are more genetically suited to deal with pathetic junkies than black drug dealers? A junkie needs to deal with some swarthy, aggressive thug who'd just as soon shoot you in the face as tell you the time of day. Maybe it'll discourage some of these addicts from further pursuing such a degenerate lifestyle.

Cops should focus their time and resources toward going after criminals (including drug addicts) who are committing real crimes against people and property. And these criminals should be severely punished for it. I'm totally ok with public floggings and bringing back chain gangs. Regular prison is just another massive welfare program and it isn't a deterrent for a lot of folks, especially blacks. It's like a big family reunion for most of them because half of their cousins are in there too. The only thing they're missing out on in prison is women and that's not a big deal for a lot of blacks. They'll turn "prison gay" like it's nothing. A hole and a heartbeat is the only requirement that's needed, a heartbeat being optional in some cases.

The vast majority of our illegal drugs (pot, meth, cocaine, and heroin) come in through the Mexican border so the greatest deterrent for drug trafficking would be THE FUCKING WALL!!! Put gun turrets on The Wall, bring some of our soldiers home from protecting the borders of other countries, and give them orders to shoot to kill anyone trying to cross or smuggle anything across that border. That would put a huge dent in the supply of drugs into this country.

Our other big problem is prescription painkillers. That's going to have to be a political solution that will take a strong hand and a lot of will power that most likely doesn't exist. Big Pharma is one hell of a powerful lobby. I don't believe in some grand conspiracy to drug the population to make us all mindless automatons. Greed is what drives these people. More profits, higher stock prices, more funding for law enforcement, etc. Add that to the centuries-old desire of humans to alter their consciousness and you have this giant feedback loop that fuels our appetite for drugs. I really don't know what a solution would be for that or if there even is a solution. We live in a culture of instant gratification where there's a pill for anything that ails you. A major cultural shift in moral values is probably the only thing that can cure our addiction to prescription pills.

Lynn, I hope this helps you understand my thoughts on America's drug problem.

PS: Tell James thanks for passing along Narco-Night Train. I'm about 50 pages into it and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Great stories. James has mastered the art of description. Other than smelling bodily fluids I feel like I'm riding Baltimore public transportation when I'm reading these tales.

Thank you, Mr. Barber, I agree with much that you have stated here.  I appreciate your perspective as someone who has been there, in more ways than one.

(c) 2017 John Paul Barber