-Caveat Lector-
>From http://orlandosentinel.com/opinion/columnists/reese/102499_reese24_21.htm
{{<Begin>}}
Charley Reese
Commentary
What do Prohibition, drug war have in common? Sure failure
Published in The Orlando Sentinel on October 24, 1999.
Let's take a short quiz on liquor prohibition. In 1919, the Constitution was
amended to ban the manufacture and distribution of alcoholic beverages in the
United States. Prohibition was repealed in 1933.
Did Prohibition succeed in banning liquor? No.
Did Prohibition cause the formation of powerful criminal gangs? Yes.
Did Prohibition cause violence as a result of these gangs fighting over
territory? Yes.
Did Prohibition cause a huge amount of public corruption? Yes.
Did Prohibition result in a general disrespect for the law? Yes.
When Prohibition ended, did the United States suddenly go to Hades with
everyone becoming an alcoholic? No.
All right now, let's fast-forward to the war on drugs.
Has the war on drugs succeeded in banning illegal drugs? No.
Has the war on drugs caused the formation of powerful criminal gangs? Yes.
Has the war on drugs caused violence as a result of these gangs fighting over
territory? Yes.
Has the war on drugs caused a huge amount of public corruption? Yes.
Has the war on drugs caused a general disrespect for the law? Yes.
If we ended the war on drugs, legalized these drugs and allowed people to buy
them by prescription or from carefully licensed and regulated dealers, would
the United States go to Hades and everyone become an addict? I don't think so.
For evidence of that, we have pre-drug-ban history, during which life went
along pretty much as normal.
Then, how can we justify continuing this failed effort that has caused more
damage to the Constitution than it has to the drug dealers -- all of whom, of
course, are replace-able.
I don't think that people should take drugs, not even most of the ones their
doctors prescribe. In a free society people should be free to choose and free
to suffer the consequences of their own choices.
The current drug war is a racket. Everybody but the taxpayer is making money on
it, and, after nearly 40 years, illicit drugs are flowing as freely or even
more freely than before. In the meantime, the government uses the drug war as
an excuse to whittle away the traditional rights and liberties of all American
citizens. And taxpayers are taking it in the gazoo.
A drug is a drug is a drug. If people become addicted to them -- and thousands
become addicted to doctor-prescribed drugs already -- then that's a health
problem, not a police problem. There is nothing inherently evil in morphine,
heroin, marijuana or cocaine. They each produce certain effects, just as other
drugs do, but those effects do not cause people to commit crimes.
What causes the crime is drug prohibition. It limits the supply to illegal
dealers and therefore drives up the price. Addicts will sometimes resort to
crime to finance their own habit if they have no other source of income. But it
is important to understand that the criminal behavior is produced by the legal
prohibition, not by the drug.
The drug use, in a legal setting, would cause no problems other than to the
user, which is the case in alcohol consumption. We could still have laws
against operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, just as we do
in the case of alcohol.
I wonder how long the American people are going to put up with government
officials making saps out of them. That's what they're doing. They feed you
propaganda and then extract billions of dollars from your pockets to waste
chasing people who are simply supplying a product for which there is a demand.
[Posted 10/23/1999 5:28 PM EST]
Top of this page
Search Feedback Help
© 1999 orlandosentinel.com
{{<End>}}
A<>E<>R
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Integrity has no need of rules. -Albert Camus (1913-1960)
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said
it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your
own reason and your common sense." --Buddha
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that
prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers." Universal Declaration of Human Rights
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will
teach you to keep your mouth shut." Ernest Hemingway
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
