Posted on 03/30/2009 6:49:14 PM PDT by rabscuttle385
We have recently heard many shocking stories of brutal killings and ruthless violence related to drug cartels warring with Mexican and US officials. It is approaching the fever pitch of a full blown crisis. Unfortunately, the administration is not likely to waste this opportunity to further expand government. Hopefully, we can take a deep breath and look at history for the optimal way to deal with this dangerous situation, which is not unprecedented.
Alcohol prohibition in the 1920’s brought similar violence, gangs, lawlessness, corruption and brutality. The reason for the violence was not that making and selling alcohol was inherently dangerous. The violence came about because of the creation of a brutal black market which also drove profits through the roof. These profits enabled criminals like Al Capone to become incredibly wealthy, and militantly defensive of that wealth. Al Capone saw the repeal of Prohibition as a great threat, and indeed smuggling operations and gangland violence fell apart after repeal. Today, picking up a bottle of wine for dinner is a relatively benign transaction, and beer trucks travel openly and peacefully along their distribution routes.
Similarly today, the best way to fight violent drug cartels would be to pull the rug out from under their profits by bringing these transactions out into the sunlight. People who, unwisely, buy drugs would hardly opt for the back alley criminal dealer as a source, if a coffeehouse-style dispensary was an option. Moreover, a law-abiding dispensary is likely to check ID’s and refuse sale to minors, as bars and ABC stores tend to do very diligently. Think of all the time and resources law enforcement could save if they could instead focus on violent crimes, instead of this impossible nanny-state mandate of saving people from themselves!
If these reasons don’t convince the drug warriors, I would urge them to go back to the Constitution and consider where there is any authority to prohibit private personal choices like this. All of our freedoms – the freedom of religion and assembly, the freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, the right to be free from unnecessary government searches and seizures – stem from the precept that you own yourself and are responsible for your own choices. Prohibition laws negate self-ownership and are an absolute affront to the principles of freedom. I disagree vehemently with the recreational use of drugs, but at the same time, if people are only free to make good decisions, they are not truly free. In any case, states should decide for themselves how to handle these issues and the federal government should respect their choices.
My great concern is that instead of dealing deliberatively with the actual problems, Congress will be pressed again to act quickly without much thought or debate. I can’t think of a single problem we haven’t made worse that way. The panic generated by the looming crisis in Mexico should not be redirected into curtailing more rights, especially our second amendment rights, as seems to be in the works. Certainly, more gun laws in response to this violence will only serve to disarm lawful citizens. This is something to watch out for and stand up against. We have escalated the drug war enough to see it only escalates the violence and profits associated with drugs. It is time to try freedom instead.
We all know that George Soros is just looking out for your freedoms. LOL
http://www.nationalfamilies.org/guide/gsoros.html
I guess the same people who let their kids ride with someone who’s had a cocktail or beer.
and both are idiots
Yes, but then the public was much more ignorant as to the effects of chemicals on the body and addiction. People were taking those "medicines" generally in good faith to cure some malady, real or imagined. I doubt but a few of them began taking them with the intent to get high. I also doubt very many of them even actually knew what it was they were putting in their body, and most of them would probably have been ecstatic to have a safer alternative like ibuprofen. Aspirin was just coming on the scene, but again, the study of these substances and their effects was in its infancy.
I doubt you can find too many people nowadays who don't know that smoking crack or shooting heroin are bad for you.
I think it’s time to decriminalize pot. It would not be a panacea - but I’d like to see what kind of impact it has on Mexico.
When drugs are made legal again I’m sure they would look @ other criminal activities to go after since drugs wouldn’t be profitable to them anymore.
I myself don’t care what direction the states go re: drug policy. I would like to see 50 state policies that range from continued prohibition in conservative states to outright legalization in liberal states. The people should be free to decide this issue, by using their right to vote as well as their right to move to the states that suits their fancy on this issue. Just get the feds out of it (w/ the exception of protecting our borders)!
What an odd comment.
Well, they might have to go back to crimes in which their "victims" weren't quite so willing.
When you see the news and the items about people high on drugs or booze and kill innocent people which happen here all the time.
I guess I am an idiot then. My family, my husband, myself my boys and their grandparents all went out for dinner the other night. My Mother in law had a glass of wine and my hubby and his dad had a beer - we all made it home OK/ sarc.
Jeez - do people on this board live in reality? Sometimes I wonder.
You're absolutely right: the LAW increases the profit motive for the dealers, not marijuana itself. Violence is one of the LAST things me & my friends are interested in when we smoke....unless we are fighting for the last slice pf pizza, LOL
While it isn't in "coffee-house dispensaries" it is available from "in and out" therapists/psychiatrists/psychologists.
You know exactly what that means.
Would you want your son or daughter in a
car driven by a pot head
The cartels have already branched out into other illegal activities.¹ They are conglomerates of crime, and marijuana provides nearly 2/3 of their revenue according to the ONDCP.² Legalization would be a severe blow to the cartels.
______________________________________
¹ The men and women who form part of this network likely number in the thousands. They operate a range of illicit businesses from the regular extortion of street vendors to charging other groups for passage through their territory, to gun and drug smuggling, human smuggling, kidnapping for ransom, money laundering and the operation of a vast network of illegal businesses.
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?id=97554&lng=en
²John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said marijuana, not heroin or cocaine, is the "bread and butter," "the center of gravity" for Mexican drug cartels that every year smuggle tons of it through the porous U.S.-Mexico border. Of the $13.8 billion that Americans contributed to Mexican drug traffickers in 2004-05, about 62 percent, or $8.6 billion, comes from marijuana consumption.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/022208dnintdrugs.3a98bb0.html
Prior to the Harrison Act, doctors were beginning to understand the dangers of opiate withdrawal and its ramifications for breaking the addiction cycle. They had begun having some success weaning addicts off through maintenance and reduction. That treatment was made illegal, and addicts had to either quit cold turkey or turn to criminal suppliers.
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