The War on Drugs

Part 1:

They tell you about the War on Drugs

They don’t tell you about the bodies you’ll have to pick up when it’s over

No salute or folded flag for these soldiers

They tell you about the War on Drugs

They don’t tell you about the comrades taken prisoner of war

Only how they’re wearing enemy badges on their arms

They don’t tell you about the price tag on rehab facilities

Only raise taxes for the drug task force

Because addict means criminal, not suffering

Not mental illness

Not disease

Not sickness

Not son and daughter

Not missing in action, but rather deserter

They tell you about the War on Drugs

But they forget to mention they’re not fighting the substance,

But rather the user

They tell you about the War on Drugs

They don’t tell you that it’ll be your friends

Your family

Your boyfriend or girlfriend

A child with a bright future ahead of them

They tell you about the War on Drugs

They don’t tell you about the mother who has to bury her son

The sister who has to bury her little brother

The girl who has to bury her soulmate

The home turned into a battlefield

When bombs are needles, how do you seek shelter?

When a bullet is a baggy in an outstretched hand

A vest isn’t going to stop it

When killing the enemy means killing yourself, how can you fight back?

Part 2:

Here is the truth about the War on Drugs

He was 4 months away from his 21st birthday

He was studying pre-law

He was going to marry his high school sweetheart

He had just gotten back from rehab three days earlier

His mother found him

Only half of us could attend the funeral

One was in jail

One on house arrest

One in a halfway house

One in rehab

I watched my family turn into walking skeletons

Before they ever entered the graveyard

I watched the world turn away from them

Before it even gave them a chance

Part 3:

His sister found his mother

One year, five months, and 12 days

Alone on the battlefields

She followed her son into the trenches

Determined to bring her fallen soldier home

Or join him

None of us could attend the funeral

She requested no flowers

But rather aid against the War

Tribute to the fallen

The Missing in Action

The collateral in the War on Drugs

When you join the War on Drugs

Make sure you know who the true enemy is

Before you shoot