Every Sunday American Christians go to church and pray The Lord’s Prayer, which includes the following plea: “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” The rest of the week, many of these same Christians then proceed to support a governmental program that not only leads people into temptation and evil but also brings with it death, corruption, violence, ruination of lives, and destruction.
I’m referring, of course, to the government’s infamous “war on drugs,” a program that, by its very nature, tempts people into becoming involved in the illicit drug trade and sometimes leads to incarceration and even death.
A recent example of this phenomenon occurred in Brooklyn, New York, where the owner of a maraschino cherry company, Arthur Mondella, was caught running an illegal marijuana lab under his cherry company. Once Mondella realized that the police were about to discover what he was doing, he told his sister to “take care of my kids” and ended his life with a .357 magnum gunshot to the head.
Sure, everyone is responsible for his own actions. No question about that.
But there is a reason why The Lord’s Prayer has that plea in it. The fact is that human beings, being the frail creatures we are, all too easily succumb to temptation. That’s why we pray not to be led into temptation — because oftentimes it’s difficult to resist its allure.
That clearly is the case with the manufacture or sale of illicit drugs. Tens of thousands of ordinary people are involved in it, knowing full well that it’s a felony offense.
Why do they choose to do it? Money. Big money. By making the sale of drugs illegal, the drug war causes the black-market price of the drugs to skyrocket, thereby making it more tempting for ordinary people to get involved in the trade. It’s just too difficult for some people to say no to a quick score involving thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
And let’s face it: Most people selling or distributing illicit drugs get away with it without getting caught. That makes it even more tempting, especially for young people, who often think they’re invincible.
Mondella wasn’t a young man. He was 57. But a friend of mine from my home town of Laredo, Texas, was young when he got tempted to get into the marijuana business back in the 1970s. He was about 23 or 24 and living in Austin, where he put together a nationwide marijuana distribution operation. I don’t know how much he was making but I suspect it was substantial.
The authorities suspected what my friend was doing but were unable to catch him. So, they got the IRS on him for violating the income-tax laws by not reporting his income from his marijuana sales. As the IRS noose slowly but inexorably tightened around my friend’s neck, he holed up in his bedroom, turned on the gas, and took his own life.
Suicide is a choice, just like drug dealing is. I’m not suggesting that these people are not responsible for their actions. They are. But the fact is that it is the drug war itself — by generating those exorbitant black-market prices and profits — that tempts so many ordinary people — i.e., not the criminal types — into going down this road, a road that all too often leads to death, destruction, or ruination of life.
The drug war has led enough people into temptation and to their death. Deliver us from this evil by ending this failed and destructive governmental war.
