|
|
| War on Illegal Drugs Useless Battle |
|
Posted by FoM on April 29, 2002 at 22:42:02 PT By Joel Schwartz Source: Daily Bruin 
Heroin, cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, speed, LSD and crack invade the lives of our parents, teachers, officials, children and even clergy. I'm not preaching a la Nancy Reagan about the terrible societal dangers of drugs, but am merely pointing out a fact. Most likely, at least one person you know and respect has done an illegal drug, and the harm that we cause to society by fighting a losing and idiotic drug war far exceeds the damage that would persist if we legalized drugs. It is therefore quite ironic that those items that are chaotically being distributed throughout the United States are officially labeled "controlled substances" by our government.
The economic argument in favor of legalization is simple. If there is high demand for a product, and if the supply is not being provided by legal means, people will create alternate methods to acquire what they want, and prices will skyrocket. The result of our socialistic drug policy is the creation of a black market that can manufacture drugs for a small price and sell at any profit they want. This is the way that evil people like Osama bin Laden and the Taliban gain wealth and power. The prohibition movement of the 1920s literally created bootlegging. It is a shame that the U.S. government failed to learn that Al Capone could not have built his empire of horror without prohibition to fund his activities. But the massive drug cartels of today (spawned from the Drug War) could not operate without an ample supply of workers. Unfortunately, the only people willing to do illegal and potentially dangerous work are those in horrid circumstances. They are those who have failed to gain life skills due to terrible schooling, those without role models and who are stuck in the neverending cycle of welfare. They are the young adults of our inner cities. Is it any surprise that the easy wealth that has been made possible by our drug laws rid these poor people of any incentive to better their socioeconomic circumstance? And of course such a dangerous game fosters a need for protection and grouping. And so we can blame today's gang problem on drug war stupidity as well. Yet there is one more group that is affected by drug war idiocy, and this is the most tragic of them all. As long as the drug trade is confined to the bowels of the black market, there can be no type of legal or market control. As a result, the producers target the most malleable members of society to be customers and distributors: our children. How many can honestly say that it was easier to obtain a beer at a bar than a marijuana cigarette while they were in high school? Bars and convenience stores are subject to specific market controls, namely they can lose their license to sell tobacco or alcohol and therefore a substantial amount of income by selling to minors. In addition, the good citizens of any township would likely take their business elsewhere if it were to be discovered that their favorite quick stop was engaged in these shady activities. Although it does happen, the fact that tobacco and alcohol are legal drugs assures that children are not targeted customers. Granted, legalizing drugs might lead to more addiction and drug related deaths and violence. However, countries such as Holland and Portugal have actually lowered levels of drug abuse after legalization. And by fighting this losing war, gangs and drug related crimes more than make up for the loss of life that would be associated with legalization. Besides these supposedly obvious economic factors, there also exists a moral argument. Mark Twain summed it up the best: "Whose property is my body? Probably mine. I so regard it. If I experiment with it, who must be answerable? I, not the State. If I choose injudiciously, does the State die?" Twain is taking the doctrine of abortion rights to its logical conclusion. If we are to give people full domain over their own bodies, as is the case with abortion, then we should also allow a person decide what to do with their own body. The brand of socialist thinking that allows Big Brother to dictate what we can put into our own bodies is the same thinking that leads to complete control over the individual. The next step is to disallow "immoral" sexual activity, "immoral" buying and selling of products arbitrarily chosen, and ultimately "immoral" thought and speech. The hatred of personal sovereignty as evidenced by conservatives who perpetuate drug war misery, as well as self-pronounced liberals who show signs of fascism by attacking the tobacco industry, must be curtailed if we are to continue living in a free society. Our lives and ultimately our freedom are the only real targets and casualties of this disgusting Drug War. SUBSTANCE: Legalization would protect youth, lessen crime, ease U.S. regulation. Note: Schwartz abhors what you have to say but will fight for your right to say it. Source: Source: Daily Bruin (CA) Related Articles & Web Site: What's New - Drug Policy Activists Say Drug Policy Not Working Ending the War on Drugs Would Help End Violence U.S. Continues Down Wrong Path Regarding Drugs Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
 |
|
Comment #7 posted by Dan B on April 30, 2002 at 10:42:33 PT:
|
| . . . and another thing about Babylon 5: the media were fully in the pocket of the government. Whatever the government said, the media repeated. There was only one source of accurate information, and that was the rebellion aboard Babylon 5--who were, incidentally, labeled terrorists (as I recall, their accusations against the Earth government were also labeled conspiracy theories) and were summarily discounted by the mainstream media. Sound familiar? Babylon 5 was my favorite show for a long time because it was so close to political reality, and yes it was, as kaptinemo aptly described it, high class space opera. Dan B [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by goneposthole on April 30, 2002 at 06:23:24 PT |
| We can trust the government to lie to us all of the time. Well, maybe not all of the time.
Pick and choose when they are telling the truth. The threat of terrorist attacks is a permanent condition. The government told us so. To hear lies all of the time is also a permanent condition. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by greenfox on April 30, 2002 at 05:56:52 PT |
| because "because ...this is (drumroll and trumpet blare) AH-MERI-KUH!" of things like that. sig,fik, gf [ Post Comment ] |
|
Comment #4 posted by Dankhank on April 30, 2002 at 05:48:11 PT:
|
| Bab5 is a great show, for many reasons, including the storyline you speak of, Kap ... The organization was called, Nightwatch, and even the name should have alerted all about what it was for ... BTW ... great article here ... [ Post Comment ] |
|
Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on April 30, 2002 at 04:59:49 PT:
|
| A few years back, there was a TV series (now in syndication on the SF Channel) called Babylon 5. Space opera for sure...but high class space opera. Because it had a point. In the series, the originally democratic Earth government becomes increasingly, slowly, creepingly fascistic and xenophobic after the Earth Alliance President is assassinated by his Vice President. (Take a look at what's happened since 1963; wars, rumors of wars, economic restructuring so that the wealthiest fraction of one percent of the population of this country controls over 70% of the economy, government by emergency decree, foreign adventurism when there are problems at home which need urgent attention; look familiar?) A steady progressive erosion of civil liberties ensues, to the point where civil war erupts amongst the humans who wanted to keep the democratic ideals of the Alliance alive...and the new dictators. One of the programs initiated by the corrupt Earth Alliance government was - are you ready? - the 'Ministry of Truth', and it's sister organization, the 'NightWatch'. The purpose of these organizations was simple: disseminate lies and fink on people who disagreed with government policy, respectively. But they had another organization. I forget the exact name of it, but it was designed to promote trust of the government, and to allay any fears the populace might have at losing their rights under martial law. Scary, ain't it? The patterns of fascist drift are there for all to see, throughout history...but people keep thinking they are immune to it. And keep paying the price for such nonchalant hubris.. The program I mentioned is just fiction, right? The real thing 'can't happen here!', because ...this is (drumroll and trumpet blare) AH-MERI-KUH! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by BGreen on April 30, 2002 at 03:30:01 PT |
| If we could trust our gov't, there'd be no need for this "partnership." Can you say "brainwashing," neighbor? I thought you could. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by dddd on April 30, 2002 at 02:02:10 PT |
| ...That was a good article,,but I couldnt resist going off topic,and sharing this astonishing item from US Newswire.. ...This is not a joke!....I dont know about you,,but I find this new "Partnership" quite stunning....dddd Partnership for Trust in Gov't to Release Publication Partnership for Trust in Government to Release New Publication News Advisory: WHAT: Release of The Partnership for Trust in Government's new publication series "Trust Matters." The first edition is titled: Is Anyone Listening? Generation "Why" Sounds Off on Government, Civics, Politics, and Public Service. WHEN: Tuesday, April 30 12 p.m. WHERE: West Tower Penthouse 1301 K St., NW Washington, D.C. WHO: Rebecca Lieberman, President of Vote for America (and daughter of Sen. Joseph Lieberman) will be our guest speaker. Q&A will follow. ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP: The Partnership for Trust in Government, a project of the Council for Excellence in Government and the Ford Foundation, allies 34 organizations in industry, labor, civic/non profit sector and the media. It works to rebuild public respect and confidence by educating people about the role of government and how it affects their lives, and by convincing Americans to become regular participants in the governing process. America's youth are one of the Partnership's target audiences. To better understand how young people currently relate to their government, politics, public service and their communities, the Partnership convened its Youth Council for two days of fascinating discussion and co-sponsored the latest national survey of youth. The new publication chronicles the key points of this rich conversation and contains the highlights and executive summary of the 2002 youth survey. ABOUT THE COUNCIL: Nonpartisan, nonprofit, and national in scope, the Council for Excellence in Government works to improve the performance of government at all levels. The Council's John C. Whitehead Forum convenes senior government and private-sector leaders to discuss the country's public agenda and major factors affecting the performance of American government. [ Post Comment ] |
| Post Comment |  |
 |  |