Legalize Drugs Now!
Nov 26th, 2007 by Larry
Did I get your attention? There is a movement called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) that believes that the prohibition against illegal drugs should end. Here is what the Cops say…
The stated goals of current U.S. drug policy — reducing crime, drug addiction, and juvenile drug use — have not been achieved, even after nearly four decades of a policy of “war on drugs.” This policy, fueled by over a trillion of our tax dollars has had little or no effect on the levels of drug addiction among our fellow citizens, but has instead resulted in a tremendous increase in crime and in the numbers of Americans in our prisons and jails. With 4.6% of the world’s population, America today has 22.5% of the world’s prisoners. But, after all that time, after all the destroyed lives and after all the wasted resources, prohibited drugs today are cheaper, stronger, and easier to get than they were thirty-five years ago at the beginning of the so-called “war on drugs”. With this in mind, we current and former members of law enforcement have created a drug-policy reform movement — LEAP. We believe that to save lives and lower the rates of disease, crime, and addiction. As well as to conserve tax dollars, we must end drug prohibition. LEAP believes that a system of regulation and control of production and distribution will be far more effective and ethical than one of prohibition. We do this in hopes that we in Law Enforcement can regain the public’s respect and trust, which have been greatly diminished by our involvement in imposing drug prohibition.
You can see the LEAP website here for additional information.
It is obvious that Law Enforcement has had very little effect on the sale and distribution of illegal drugs, and the only ones winning are the drug traffickers and dealers. You only need to look at the illegal trafficking of alcohol during the prohibition of the 1920’s and 30’s to see that prohibition is not the answer. For an excellent analogy of alcohol and drug prohibition, see Same Problem - Same Solution on the LEAP website.
All the money we are wasting now could be better spent on drug regulation, education, and treatment programs. Taking away control of illegal drugs from the traffickers and dealers and moving it to government control is the only solution to this ever-increasing problem. “Would there still be cases of overdose and addiction? Yes, but those are problems now, and a system of regulation would only decrease those instances. Prohibition is a false sense of control for the government.”
“After 20 years on the bench I have concluded that federal drug laws are a disaster. It is time to get the government out of drug enforcement.” ~ The Honorable Whitman Knapp, the first United States District Court Judge
I don’t do drugs, legal or otherwise. I rarely take a prescription pill either. I drink perhaps 2 beers and a glass of wine or a cocktail per month and then just because it’s polite and social. I was voted “Most likely to be sober” by my freshman dorm in college, despite being the only one with a fake ID good enough to buy the booze for our first big college party. Healthy drinking habit, no; healthy disrespect for authority (and law enforcement), yes.
The illegality of drugs is not what keeps me away. I hate not being in crystal clear control of my faculties. Part of it is control, part of it is my frank understanding that I’m not going to get by on charm, good looks, or athletic ability. The gray mater is what puts food on the plate and is my best tool to con women to hang out with me. Killing it off a thin layer at a time would not be a wise investment.
But I am all for legalization of drugs and the deregulation of prescription drugs too. If I want to take a pill, why the hell should I have to pay a Doctor to give me a permission slip? Part of driving down the cost of drug care in this country would be to make drugs a legal and free market instead of a twisted maze of payoffs to GPs and the back room deals to peddle newer, but not more effective (read: more expensive) drugs.
We should put Colombia out of business. When they wouldn’t give us a deal on the land for the Panama canal, we told them to go shove it and supported the Colombian STATE of Panama in a secession. It helped that we parked our finest floating fighting vessel just off shore. Can you name ONE city in Colombia that you can’t put the word “cartel” after? Cali. Medellin. Bogota. Gosh, I don’t think coffee when I hear any of those names.
We should do the same again. Put American farmers (who get enough welfare to NOT work) to work growing Marijuana, cocoa plants, and poppy fields. Become an export nation once again, or at least one where we can fill our own demand for products. Then we tax the hell out of it (it would still be considerably better quality and cheaper than the stuff on the street). It would result in safer products, and the HUGE HUGE HUGE amounts of money that would be generated with American jobs, savings for drug users, and in taxes.
Now I can’t promise that our bureaucrats will take all that money and spend it wisely, they rarely do. But I’d much rather have American graft than Colombian graft. I’d much rather have dollars staying in this country than going to fund a giant criminal network that extends from Canada down to the depths of South America.
I would rather let people hurt and kill themselves legally without fear of ending up in jail, with free and encouraging access to health care programs. I would rather reserve our prisons for violent criminals and I’d rather have cops freed up to serve and protect instead of harass and annoy.
Just think, Prohibition gave us the Kennedys and we still haven’t gotten rid of them.
Christopher,
I probably drink less than you do. I might have a glass of wine at my favorite Italian restaurant and I don’t really like beer but I might have one with plate of Hooters wings ones or twice a year. I don’t do illegal drugs but as I creep up in age, I do take some prescription drugs but I’m not happy about it. I, like you, want to be in full control of my mental and physical faculties at all times and I don’t like the way alcohol makes me feel.
I have witnessed first hand what illegal drugs can do, for my sister has fewer good brain cells than bad. I lost a cousin to illegal drug use and come from a area of the country were you can’t name a family that has not be touched in one way or another by illegal drug use.
The way I see it, it comes down to two options:
1. We can continue filling our jail cells, spend billions every year trying to enforce laws that are unenforceable, and make the drug trafficker and dealers richer and more powerful.
Or
2. Wake up and use those billions to regulate and bring illegal drug use out of the closet, education users on the harm effects of these drugs, and provide treatment programs for addiction.
After over 40 years, you would think that we would wake up and say; hey, what we are doing isn’t working so maybe we should try something else.
One of the biggest causes of overdoses, I suspect, is because drugs are sold with NO quality control. One of the governments biggest arguments against allowing senior citizens to import their prescription drugs from Canada or overseas is fears that they will not be of the best quality and correct dosages. If they can regulate and license the production of alcohol and cigarettes then they can do the same for marijuana.
I’m not really in favor of wholesale elimination of drug laws, but I do think that legalizing something like marijuana, as a start, could make a big difference in freeing up law enforcement personnel to take care of other crimes and give us all a HUGE tax break in the form of reduced prison costs.
I think this is all a dream though since CCA, Wackenhut and Cornell (the three largest For-Profit Prison companies in the US) donate a LOT of campaign money to candidates who support minimum mandatory sentencing laws and want to increase profits by increasing the number of prisoners. As long as groups like Wackenhut Corp’ PAC wanna supply the cash, politicians will be glad to stay “tough on crime” - any crime.
Thanks for the information and it is very interesting!
The Pablo Escobars of the world are probably the biggest contributors.
If you Google “CCA, Wackenhut and Cornell” you get all kinds of interest hits about questionable practices of these companies.
I grew up in a small town in South Florida that at one time was very quiet and known only for the great bass fishing there on Lake Okeechobee. Since moving to Philadelphia, I occasionally use Google News to check for news in that area. Since Wackenhut built the Moore Haven Correctional Facility on the edge of town, that seems to have dominated the news there. My last visit there made it clear the little town of 500 is dying and what remains are a lot of abandoned homes with plywood over the windows and a bunch of cheap motels out near the prison so visiting family members can have a place to stay.
If we eliminated those people in prison for marijuana possession we would need a lot fewer prison beds. In Florida, possession of more than 20 grams (7/10ths of an ounce) can carry a prison term of five years. Thats great for the prison industry but not so good for the tax payers. Especially when you consider the number of breadwinners who end up in jail and as a result the family left behind end up making greater use of public assistance programs like food stamps and housing benefits.