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Does Prohibition Work?
Some
people are still functioning under the illusion that drug use can be stopped by
government violence and threat of violence. Is prohibition a sensible,
logical, or reasonable way to deal with drug misuse? Before you
answer that question, consider the following:
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The
Source of Organized Crime:
Overwhelming evidence shows that: 1) The prohibition of alcohol during the 1920's was
passed into law as a direct result of the activities of ultra-conservative
Christians. 2) It was a complete failure. 3) It spawned the birth of what is now a
global-level, semi-secret, organized-crime network.
In the face of overwhelming
evidence that the prohibition of alcohol was a social disaster and in the face
of equally compelling evidence that the present prohibition of certain drugs is
a disaster of far greater proportions, politicians are still waging war against
the of use of certain declared-to be-illegal drugs. Before we answer
the question, "WHY ?" let's look at what drug prohibition is costing
us:
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The
Cost:
The prohibition of
certain (declared-to-be-illegal) drugs:
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Has
made the most unethical people on the planet the wealthiest people on the
planet,
*
Is
responsible for 70% of all criminal activity in the U.S.,
*
Has
allowed right wing ultra-conservatives to transform our formerly free government
into a highly organized and highly funded, fascist police state,
*
Has
created a multi-billion dollar prison system which presently warehouses millions
of people convicted of drug-law violations,
*
Has
cost and is now costing the public directly and indirectly, billions of
dollars each year,
*
Has
corrupted high-level government officials in every country on the face of the
planet -- including the United States,
*
Has
provided criminals with enough money to buy government officials and to
literally own some governments,
*
Has
funded and is funding countless secret criminal activities, including terrorism,
*
Is
responsible for the destruction of vast areas on the tropical rain forests,
*
Has
literally caused the near extinction of several native cultures,
*
Has
severely restricted everyone’s social and political freedom,
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Has
brought misery to the lives of billions of people,
*
has made criminals out of millions of people who would otherwise never engage in
illegal activity.
* Has compelled millions of children to get their friends and acquaintances hooked
on drugs because selling drugs is the only way they can get enough money to
support their own drug habits.
* Has done absolutely nothing to stop illegal drugs coming into the United States.
*
And
has done absolutely nothing to stop people from using illegal drugs.
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Alcohol
and Tobacco:
Even
though nicotine
is more addictive than heroin and
even though selling alcohol, and nicotine results in over five-hundred-
thousand
deaths each year and cost billions of dollars in damages each year,
it's perfectly legal to
advertise, promote, sell, and openly use these two drugs. Did you ever
wonder why it's perfectly OK to sell alcohol and nicotine which kill over five- hundred- thousand
people each and every year,
and at the same time, it's illegal to sell marijuana which has never, directly
killed
anyone in all the years of recorded medical history?
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Follow
the Money Trail:
In the United states alone, the illegal drug industry is a
sixty-five-billion-dollar-per-year business. ($65,000,000,000)
And that
doesn't even count the vast police, military, and prison industry that, for it's
own survival, vitally needs to keep drugs illegal. If
you want to know why selling alcohol and nicotine are legal and marijuana is
not, simply follow the money trail. Ask yourself these questions:
Who is rich because certain chemicals are illegal?
Who would lose
money if they became legal?
What would happen to the economy if drugs became legal?
One of the main reasons why certain drugs are
illegal is because there is an
incredible price markup between production cost and final sale price. For
example, cocaine sells to the consumer for about 170 times its production cost,
and the leaves and flowers from a plant that grows profusely on its own almost anywhere (marijuana) sells
for more per ounce than gold.
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Political
Power:
A second major reason why certain drugs are illegal is that drug money buys
political power and political power is the only thing keeping drugs
illegal. Imagine that every year you had several billion dollars that you
needed to launder, to whom would you turn? If your business brought
in several billions of dollars every year and you could secretly and indirectly
support the political campaigns of those who would keep your business
profitable, would you do so.?
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Silver
or Lead:
The third major reason why drugs are still illegal is that those responsible for
drug peddling offer politicians and those who might oppose them "an offer
they can't refuse." They say, "Do you want silver of
lead?" (money or bullets) "Take this money and look the other way or
we will kill you and your entire family." If offered such a
choice, how would you respond?
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Marijuana:
Marijuana which grows like a weed almost anywhere is (at the time
of this writing) more expensive per ounce than gold. It costs
$400 per ounce only because it is illegal. In a free market that
same ounce of marijuana would probably cost between $2 to $4 per ounce. It
could also be home grown completely free of any costs by almost anybody
who has a flower pot and a little water.
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Quotes
of Legislating Morality:
"Prohibition
goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite
by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes...
A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principle upon which our government
was founded."
____________________
Abraham Lincoln -- 1840
"You've
probably heard the famous quote. 'Power corrupts and absolute power
corrupts absolutely.' Well, here it is in somewhat different
words, "Money Corrupts. Secret money corrupts
absolutely.""
____________________
Quote from "An Interview with the Devil" by R.
Robin Cote'
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