The WOD is at the crux of this. I am sick of it. I do not use drugs. I do not approve of them. A lot of peoples lives are ruined by drugs. But it is now very apparent to me that the societal rot from drugs is not nearly as bad as that which has come from the fight against them. Let druggies kill them selves. I am sick of ruining my life trying to save them.
We have given up far too many of our liberties to secure ourselves from drug criminals. Far too many. And we have lost the community and respect of our law enforcement officials. We have gone too far astray from what makes American the shining city on the hill.
Absolutely. More violence has been done to the Contsitution in the name of the "War on Drugs" than any other cause. The 'cure' is by far worse thatn the 'disease'. Crime and corruption go hand in hand with neo-prohibitionism. Those supporting this assault on our rights are directly responsible for the violations of same that have come about because of it.
Personally, I have little use for drugs of any kind, and hesitate to take tylenol even when its use is indicated (fever). Irregardless of my personal feelings about them, I look at what it has done to our police, courts and political system, and cringe at the short sightedness of neo-prohibitionists. In 1930, people were being killed by violent mobsters protecting turf who moved in when alcohol was banned. After prohibition was repealed, that stopped quickly. Did I have miss seeing the reports on the news of the street battles when the Miller Brewing Company and Anheuser Busch Company distributors battle it out for territory? I don't think so. If the war on drugs ended tomorrow, so would much of the violence and crime that surrounds drugs today.
Of course, the powers that be know this. The problem is, there is this huge industry that surrounds the 'drug war' that would be put out of business with the repeal of Prohibition II. Suddenly, you'd have plenty of jail space for murderers, and other violent thugs because the beds freed up by low-level dealers would disappear. We might also have a chance to look at 'no-knock' warrants, and perhaps could return to a day when warrants were served by civilized human beings instead of 'roided-up soldier wannabes.
The powers that be probably wouldn't like us taking a closer look at forfeiture laws that don't require a conviction of a crime for the government to steal someone's property. It's all about the Benjamin's folks! I imagine there might be less money flowing from criminal organizations through political machines and poiice departments. Can't have that, can we?
What would happen to the gangsta culture if suddently there weren't local drug dealers driving around in the pimped-out rides?
The societal benefits from doing away with our second attempt at prohibition would far outweigh any detrimental effects you might see.
However, the neo-prohibitionists soldier on, making government more, corrupt, more immoral, and less protecting of our liberty. They think they'll be happy in the police state they are working towards, but ultimately it will bite them, the same as it does to everyone else.