by Eric Martin
From the sublime (with follow up), to the ridiculous – yet two more reasons to end the disastrous "war on drugs." One more reason: Sebastian and I agree (I believe). That’s gotta count for something. It’s remarkable that the American people got a taste of the massive societal problems created by the prohibition of alcohol, and decided to revisit those maladies on a larger scale. Just say "no" indeed.
Perhaps we can start with marijuana, and when the world fails to implode in the aftermath of relaxing those prohibitions, we can branch out from there (pun!). From the first link above, discussing the drug-fueled conflict in Mexico:
So far, the conflict has killed over 1,400 Mexicans, 500 of them law enforcement officers.1 No longer fearing retaliation, cartel gunmen assault soldier and high-ranking federale alike. The criminal threat is not only a threat to public order but to the state….
As the intensity of the violence grows, so does the possibility that Tijuana and Juarez’s high-intensity street warfare will migrate north. Recent cartel warfare in Arizona indicates that America has become a battleground for drug cartels clashing over territory, putting American citizens and law enforcement at risk…. Command of the shadow economy guarantees riches and political influence….
“Black globalization” also creates a neo-feudal power structure in which power flows to non-state forces controlling large slums. These fortresses of criminal influence are no-go areas for law enforcement and act as channeling points for the global illicit economy. Utilizing temporary autonomous zones in urban and rural centers, criminal can tap into a $2.5 trillion global illicit economy growing at 7 times the rate of growth in the legal economy….
Mexico stands at a crossroads. A possibility exists that Mexico could very well become criminal-state, with centralized criminal activity dominating the Mexican polity. Cartel power could become so deeply rooted within the Mexican state that uprooting it would mean civil war. Such an outcome would prove disastrous for American interests.
There are better ways for the federal, state and local governments to spend trillions of dollars. There are better ways to help people with crippling addictions, and we would all benefit if the government would just leave casual users (and marijuana users in general) alone. Priorities.
How about lowering the drinking age while we’re at it? The U.S. attitude toward drinking seems designed to encourage teenage binging.
Deal
Would that the police went back to chasing burglars and murderers full time, instead of spare time.
Also, I prefer that the police owe their salary (and their loyalty) to the taxpayer.
Seconded!
Florida is currently undergoing fairly severe budget cuts because, well, nearly its entire economy was predicated on maintaining a specific growth rate, and once that rate tapered off, even momentarily, the budget suffered. As a consequence, education has been cut back quite a bit. There’s a freeze on hiring in Orange County, and probably a freeze on wages.
In the spirit of killing two birds with one stone, so to speak, I propose that Eric’s proposal be enacted. Florida, see, is practically ideal climate for growing cannabis. Grow it, tax it, sell it: profit! No underpants!
Now, how corporate pre-employment drug screening (not to mention, DoD restrictions on drug use) is going to be handled is likely a disappointment to me. But: baby steps.
…speaking of which, anyone catch the NPR piece on DIVERT courts, last week? It was pretty cool. I don’t know if what Texas is doing in that regard is exactly groundbreaking, but it does look to be a sensible departure from earlier behavior.
Basically, they’re using judges to keep offenders in rehab programs, not in prison. It sounds like more of the same, until you listen to the article.
Perhaps we can start with marijuana,
i prefer to start with beer … ?
There are better ways for the federal, state and local governments to spend trillions of dollars.
like, killing foreigners who look at us funny!
this country is soooooo stupid.
anyone catch the NPR piece on DIVERT courts, last week?
Slarti, I heard it and thought it was a great idea.
We voted in a special “drug court” here in California. I don’t recall specifics, but certain offenders would go to the “drug court” where they’d get the same kind of counseling and other help mentioned in the DIVERT courts.
I think Mark Kleiman has done a lot of writing on Drug Courts. No time to check though.
“It’s remarkable that the American people got a taste of the massive societal problems created by the prohibition of alcohol, and decided to revisit those maladies on a larger scale. Just say “no” indeed.”
That’s clearly a joke, but I think you hit on an interesting topic, one that I have always found most convincing for ending the drug war–namely, the history of the whole business.
It seems like every time there is a news special on some aspect of the drug war, the history is summed up with something like “the American people got sick of all the addiction and decided to do something about it.” But even the most cursory glance of the actual details reveals a mess of power-hungry, paranoid, racist jerks stuffing their ideas down the throat of an apathetic and ignorant country.
Every major drug was associated with a hated minority in the past. I would argue that was the most important factor in their later prohibition. When I learned that history, it really clinched the argument for me. Perhaps others would feel the same.
There are better ways to help people with crippling addictions, and we would all benefit if the government would just leave casual users (and marijuana users in general) alone.
Legalizing marijuana is a no-brainer, but what about more serious narcotics (heroin, cocaine). I suggest legalizing it, because in addition to turning Mexico into a criminal state (ever been to Tijuana?), the creation of a huge black market helps funds terrorist groups such as FARC, the Taliban, etc. Making drugs illegal also creates concentrated, homemade substances like meth and crack, which have helped destroy rural and urban America respectively.
LT Nixon, powdered cocaine is pretty concentrated too. If people were just drinking coca leaf tea, I don’t think we’d be having serious problems with it.
I’m pretty libertarian in these sorts of things; if people want to go to hell in their own way, let them. Provide medical services, and detox, and counseling, yes.
At the very least, if we want to decide that you should be stopped from killing yourself with your drug addiction, lock people up in drug addiction treatment centers, not jails.
But I’m unclear why we should do that for, say, heroin or cocaine, and not alcohol.
Agree with all but I’m commenting because had to compliment your Costello reference!
Or Coca-Cola. Some people aren’t tea drinkers. I’ve been waiting for Coke to go back to its original recipe.
The drug war is a classic case of intentions vs. outcomes in government (and it should be proof to conservatives that it isn’t just a liberal disease–though the Iraq war should do the same).
Harm to be prevented–crippling and incredibly difficult addiction to things like heroin.
Actual results–
A) Horrific perversion of the police/citizen dynamic because of the search requirements to enforce the drug war;
B) Corrupt seizure practices because normal police techniques allegedly aren’t strong enough to stop drug money;
C) Huge misuse of the already suspect plea-bargaining tools enabled by turning possession crimes into distribution crimes purely based on smaller and smaller amounts to leverage addicts (remember the people we were supposed to be helping?) against people ‘up the chain’. Toward the middle of the chain people will often get off lighter than those at the bottom of the chain, because they have the contacts to give up that the user-level person doesn’t.
D) We end up exporting a host of side problems (drug warlords) into countries that grow drugs–see especially Colombia and Afghanistan.
E) We still have lots of addicts, so the original goal isn’t even being fulfilled except for perhaps a small bit on the margin.
But at least we get an ‘A’ for effort!
joe wins a t-shirt.