cannabisnews.com: Drug Prohibition Costs More Than It's Worth Drug Prohibition Costs More Than It's Worth Posted by CN Staff on December 05, 2002 at 22:52:53 PT By Loretta Nall Source: Crimson White Once there was a terrorist who killed a lot of people and policemen. He was funded by the American prohibition of alcohol. His name was Al Capone. He didn't kill people because he was drunk; he killed them over the massive amounts of money made possible by prohibition.Have you seen the new anti-drug ads the government is running these days? You know, the ones where they tell you that if you do drugs you support terrorism? In one, little Timmy says, "I killed mothers, fathers, grandmas, grandpas, sons, daughters, firemen and policemen." That is nothing more than propaganda!The truth of the matter is this: Prohibition funds terrorism.By keeping drugs illegal, our own government is responsible for the terrible things for which drug money is used.When prohibition is enforced, it creates a huge black market that makes drugs worth their weight in gold and invites organized crime groups to enter the picture. The product is sold, and the money makes its way to places like Afghanistan. Then it gets into the hands of people like Osama bin Laden, who use it to do things like blow up the World Trade Center.Last I heard, the illegal drug trade was around $400 billion a year. If drugs were legal, the majority of that money would stay right here in our own country, where we could use it for things like funding our failing education system, providing affordable health care, offering treatment instead of prison for addicts and cleaning up the environment.Now, undoubtedly, someone will say, "Well, if people wouldn't do drugs, then we wouldn't have this problem."While that may be true, it isn't realistic. Prohibition didn't have a chance at stopping people from consuming alcohol, just as it doesn't have a chance of stopping people from using drugs. As far back as human history goes, so goes human drug use.Remember, the first miracle of Jesus Christ was turning water into wine. And as long as humans continue on this earth, so too will drug use. Prohibition has never stopped one single person who wanted to get high from doing so, and it never will. Prohibition of alcohol created Capone, the infamous drive-by shooting and the gangster mentality.Drug prohibition has created orphans, facilitated the spread of infectious diseases, made the prison industry the fastest growing industry in America, destroyed the lives of millions of people and is costing American taxpayers about $609 a second.There has to be a better way.Loretta Nall is founder of the Alabama Marijuana Party. Source: Crimson White, The (Edu, Univ of Alabama)Author: Loretta NallPublished: December 04, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Crimson WhiteContact: cwletters sa.ua.eduWebsite: http://www.cw.ua.edu/Related Articles & Web Site:Alabama Marijuana Partyhttp://alabama.usmjparty.com/Marijuana Activist: Police Persecuting Me http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14774.shtmlGoing To Pot, And So What?http://mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2067/a02.html Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by The GCW on December 06, 2002 at 17:53:58 PT More from Loretta Nall and others abouther arrest. LTE: MISDEMEANOR http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2176/a10.html?2034 by Loretta NallUS AL: Edu: PUB LTE: Marijuana Prohibition More Harm Than Good http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2134/a06.html?2034 US AL: PUB LTE: U.S. Policy Hypocritical http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2135/a05.html?2034 by US AL: EDU: PUB LTE: Prohibition Of Marijuana Is Destructive, Immoral http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2124/a07.html?2034 [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by afterburner on December 06, 2002 at 12:52:53 PT: Wavelengths. This article is for me right on target, it's on my wavelength. Ever notice how the prohibitionists have their own wavelengths? How can we get them to tune in to what many of us consider the truth about cannabis prohibition? How can we get them to see that legalization benefits the state and reduces the massive harm to those arrested for cannabis "offences"?ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment