The Second Failing of Prohibition

Everytime we turn around we hear of another drug bust, or another act of violence committed in the name of selling "illegal" drugs. Everyday another rapist, robber or buglar attacks and yet we still condone the government on all levels spending billions of tax dollars and filling thousands of prison beds with "criminals" of victimless crimes.

Just how bad has it become? Well check out this counter provided by Drug Sense.

It doesn't take a rational person long to see that we must start looking at the drug war for what it is. It is simply another way for the government to try to justify itself and take further control of we the people.

It serves as further evidence that many people claiming to be pro freedom do not really have a firm grasp on what freedom really means. Once again we will clarify.

Freedom is the willingness to let others live their lives anyway they see fit, so long as they do not infringe on the rights of others to do the same, even if we might find their actions morally objectionable.

You see? Anybody can claim to be pro freedom as long as "you live my way". That is not freedom.

We may think that it is down right stupid for someone to snort cocaine up his nose until his brain falls out of his head, but in a free society, doesn't everyone have the right to be stupid?

Common Arguments in Favor of...

Let's take a look at some of the common arguments that we frequently hear from people who support the Drug War and see if there might be a more rational way of handling the problem.

I don't want my children to be exposed to people using drugs.

Your children are actually more likely to be exposed to drugs and people who use them with drugs being illegal than legal. Drug pushers are everywhere including elementary schools. They wouldn't be there if drugs could be sold in any drug store or super market. Free market competition would reduce the price and the glamour tied to an illegal anything. Once, when I was still working in Seattle, state of Washington and riding the bus to work, a petition was being circulated to put medical marijauna on the ballot. There was a black man on the bus who actually said, "No, I ain't going to sign it. That will just be the start. Then pot will be made legal and the price will go down". He was a dealer. Imagine that! Even the dealer understood the simple economics behind the supply and demand of the black market.

Also, what better lesson for your children than to see an adult laying on the sidewalk having urinated all over himself. "You see son? That's why we don't do drugs." Where is the glamour in that?

We can't just let people do something that will hurt themselves.

Okay. Let us put them in prison where rape is common and people learn to hone there criminal skills.

Let's face it, folks. People who are hooked on drugs need help, not punishment. Most people who are in prison for drug crimes, are there because of drug use, not selling it or robbing to get it.

If we had only one tenth of the money spent in 2003 on the drug war available for treating drug addicts as patients instead of prisoners, we could have spent $1,917,900,000.00 on helping these people kick their habits and get back on their feet. That's a lot of could-have-been-healthy people that didn't get help. Not to mention the fact that we could have cut the budget by $17,261,100,000.00. That would definitely give the economy a boost.

Many people also claim that society will degrade if we de-criminalize drugs that are now illegal. We tried prohibition before and it did not work. I guess politicians really don't learn from their mistakes. Marijauna was only prohibited for a temporary one year to give the alcohol industry a chance to rebound after prohibition was lifted. You see, the law makers of yesterday knew as little about the US Constitution as the lawmakers of today.

We really need to take a look at the real reason that drugs are under the control of the federal government in the united states of America. Look at the control the federal government takes over our bank accounts, how much money we may carry on our person when entering or exiting the country, how much cash we may spend without a report being filed with the IRS, the run away seizure frenzy that has infected law enforcement agencies all over the country. It doesn't take a Ph.D. to figure out the real reason for the War on Drugs.

Defend Freedom™