To the Journal editor:

The issue with Venezuela is another extension of Prohibition or a tale of the failure of the War on Drugs. In other words, if only we have regime change in Venezuela, then we will have peace in our land and the scourge of drugs lessened. However, this ignores that fentanyl doesn’t come from Venezuela. No doubt, Venezuela is a narco-state, but haven’t we learned the lessons from Prohibition? It fails and it is never-ending, costly, futile and dangerous to the populace and law enforcement. So now, the Trump administration’s solution is to militarize the War on Drugs even further.

This should make every American flinch because this is a pretext for further militarization of the war on drugs at home. For example, marijuana is still illegal under federal law and at any time the federal government could devote a mass amount of resources to federalize the issue. Essentially, devoting federal law enforcement officers to enforce federal laws on states that have legalized marijuana like Michigan.

However, as we see this administration militarize our cities, ICE, extra-judicial killings outside of Venezuela, mass deportations of immigrants, and harnessing all levers of power to further power. I have no doubt that Venezuela is not just a pretext for another war, but refueling the War on Drugs at home. The Trump administration is gearing up for a conflict against some of the most vulnerable Americans, our addicts. They need our help now more than ever.