Posted on 06/30/2004 3:29:33 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Why did the War on Alcohol require a constitutional amendment, while the War on Some of the Other Drugs did not?
It isn't that simple. Cops, screws, "rehab," and property siezure are all big business. Law enforcement in the U.S. is rotten to the core. It is no longer effective against non-drug crime. Even rape and murder solution rates are way below historic norms. This is a very very bad problem, and ending the Drug War will be just the first step to solving it.
Because the modern way to trashing the Constitution is incrementalism.
Because the New Deal opened the door to government unlimited by the Constitution. There are no rules now.
Because today's prohibitionists are one-worlders and steeped in their methods.
Joel needs to quit smoking that stuff.
When he beats you with facts, attack him with stupidity.
Any time a government bans something and there's a demand for the banned product or service, a black market will sprout up to fill that demand. That's basic Econ 101.
That's true. Unfortunately, they squander this advantage with their totally unenlightened positions on immigration and the War on Terror.
Heroin and Cocaine are not grown in the US. The original laws banned their importation.
HRC : "We are going to take things (money) away from you for the common good."
FR : Boo, hiss, string her up!
Libs : "We are going to take guns away from you for the common good."
FR : Boo, hiss, Out of my cold dead hand.
All pols : "We are going to take some drugs away from you for the common good."
FR : Hurray! Screw those damn drug addled hippies.
So, using some of that logic, we should open the borders to everyone and anyone to prevent illegals from coming through? (Not that they aren't open now...) Sure, they wouldn't be "illegal" any more, but there would be such a surge in numbers we couldn't handle it. (Not that we can handle it now...)
Laws are the only things that keep some people from using drugs. Take the laws away, and you'll see a lot more drug abuse, more access to drugs by children in their own homes, etc. I don't want to clean up that mess.
The criminals will find new high-priced black markets and human degradation to deal in. If they have to sell pot or whatever at reduced legal market prices, they won't be making the money they are now.
FR : Hurray! Screw those damn drug addled hippies.
That just about sums it up.
Nice post.
Yeah, that's right.
The only thing keeping me from shooting up heroin and becoming an addict is the fact that it is illegal.
Get real!
There's an additional 2nd Amendment issue that goes along with the WOsD: How many kids are being force fed "mental health drugs" in school? This is another face of the Brady Beast, as once a person is prescribed any medications for mentla health reasons, they are no longer allowed to own firearms. Never.
So, right in our schools, they have removed the right to keep and bear arms from millions before they are ever old enough to own any firearms.
Additonally, the 2nd isn't the only victim of the WOsD. The 4th has taken a heavy toll as well. Not so heavily under president Bush, but 'toon was horrible with it. Notice that the DEA isn't this president's private hit squad, and the number as well as frequency of no knock search warrants has decreased (at least in the news).
Simple economics, and simple constitutional law show the WOsD to be a total failure. If you enact laws that drive the price of a product that is in demand, there will be people who step in to exploit that market. Unfortunately, the exploitation is on both sides of the law anymore. Lastly, there is no reason for us to pay for the warehousing of individuals arrested on first time drug busts for simple possession - that should be a financial penalty only. ($30,000 per year average incarceration costs US wide, for nearly 700,000 people during 'toons tenure. Out of just over 2,000,000 prisoners, almost 70% are behind bars for drugs. That's stupid.)
Excellent post. I've read about that a few years ago and was astonished. The big Pharmies are the biggest dope pushers in the world. Oddly enough, it's purely legal to give your school kid prescribed drugs that permanently alter his / her brain.
Didn't most of the school shooters take those powerful abti-depressants?
Well, it seems like Gub-mint has found a huge loophole here to permamently ban people from ever getting firearm licenses.
Exactly. The problem of drug abuse is not a Washington problem. It can't be dealt with through top-down command and control solutions. Bureaucrats will never be able to arm enough cops and build enough jails to get rid of it. Its a problem that has to do with individual character, the family, and faith in this country. We have to change people's outlook. We're not going to win by locking up every druggie in the country's prisons. The WOD is a failure and its time we gave it up before it takes away in the process more of our hard-won freedoms.
There's a demand for illegal aliens; consequently, a black market has developed to assist the illegal alien market. I'm simply stating basic Econ 101. You can see it working in now with both parties assisting the black market in illegal aliens by refusing to enforce the laws.
The black market in illegal aliens will lessen somewhat when illegal aliens are forced to follow the rules and wait in line and become legal, according to whatever rules are established and enforced by congress.
Governments, even totalitarian ones, have never succeeded in shutting down black markets. It's just a fact of supply and demand economics.
If there's a demand for something, there will always be a market for it. The fact it may be illegal just increases the attraction of the forbidden good. That's what we have with drugs and prostitution.
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