a man’s appetite by legislation and makes crimes out of things that are not
crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which
our government was founded.” - Abraham Lincoln
According to Journal of American Medical Association roughly 17,000 deaths a year are caused by illegal drug usage amongst Americans. Zero percent of the fatalities are due to smoking or ingesting marijuana. Almost all are due to impurities and dosages that are not standardized, and a reluctance to call 911 when someone overdoses out of fear of being arrested. Exactly 0 deaths a year are attributed to smoking or ingesting marijuana. In fact there has never been a single recorded death that was attributed to marijuana use. Conversely, the yearly death toll attributed to legal alcohol use is 85,000. . . . Cigarette smoking - 435,000 . . .Poor diet and physical inactivity- 350,000.
These statistics alone should be enough to cause us to take another look at our prohibition laws, but I'm not going to stop there. Legalize Pot. There I said it. Me, most doctors, NORML, rational thinking economists, Libertarians, and millions of American citizens know it's the right thing to do. IMHO it's almost too easy an argument to defend here in the blog so, I'm going to take it a step further and call for the removal of all the prohibition laws. Legalize and regulate all of them.
Although the United States has only 5% of the world’s population, we use 60% of the
illegal drugs. We don’t just use two or three times as many drugs. We use more than
all the other countries of the world combined and they have 95% of the population. We use
twelve times as many drugs as the average of all the other countries in the world. We are the
most stoned, drugged, intoxicated society in the history of the world, thanks to the drug war.
A 2008 justice department report found Mexican traffickers were the biggest organized crime threat to the US. Just the other day hundreds were arrested in U.S probe of Mexican drug cartel. Mexican drug cartels are a threat to US national security. Our attorney general has stated that "They are lucrative. They are violent. And they are operated with stunning planning.''.
The drug runners are protected at our borders by a well armed militia with hi tech weaponry that make nearly impossible for our border patrol to prevent their entry into the states.
DEA Administrator Karen Tandy testified before the House Committee on Appropriations regarding DEA's FY2008 budget request, $2.4 billion. She describes the DEA's significant "successes" over the past year, and of course, asking for more money. I guess the $205 million seized this week was just a drop in the bucket. $2.4 billion for the war on drugs? That figure doesn't include the millions spent on incarceration, court costs, and attorney fees. Yearly seized assests by the DEA average about $1.5 billion. Simple math tells us that this war is costing us the tax payer money when legalized and taxed drugs could be making us money.
2.1 million people are currently in prison. According to the United States Justice department figures 55% are serving time for drug related convictions.
Data for this analysis is taken from various reports of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, United
States Sentencing Commission, and an analysis of the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal
Correctional Facilities.
Substantial Growth of the Federal Prison Population
· As of 2003, 161,673 persons were held in federal prisons, an increase of 81% from 1995.
· The federal prison population has increased at nearly three times the rate of state prisons
since 1995, 7.7% vs. 2.7%.
Composition of the Federal Prison Population – Mostly Non-Violent
· More than half (55%) of federal prisoners are serving time for a drug offense, and 13% for a
violent offense.
· Nearly three-fourths (72.1%) of the population are non-violent offenders with no history of
violence.
Time Served in Prison for Drug Offenses Increasing
· From 1992 to 2002, the average time served in prison for a drug offense increased by 31%
from 32.7 months to 42.9 months.
Rehabilitation is simply a joke there is no rehabilitating going on in prison. There is gang violence and the exchange of criminal procedural activity but, nobody is reforming as was originally intended. Once you've been sentenced to even a minimal prison sentence, you can pretty much kiss any chance of a productive life good bye. About the only job you'll be able to get is a restaurant dish washer, Pizza delivery guy, or a congressional lobbyist.
The current prohibition laws feed the for profit prisons. (A Reagan era entrepreneurial opportunity for construction and management business.) Prior to the 1980,s construction and management of prisons were part of the commons, once they became a for profit private industry business we've seen the prison population grow expediently.
Looking at this from a purely socioeconomic angle: Those with considerable wealth are coddled and given access to rehabilitation centers when they are arrested and in possesion of illegal drugs, while the poor are simply thrown into jail, tried and convicted. Sentenced to prison forever ruining their lives.
If drugs were legal and regulated, prisons could be used to keep the truly violent, dangerous, and repeat offending thief of of our streets. Prison over crowding would no longer be an issue. Billions of dollars could be pumped into our economy. Drug cartels would be cut off at the knees when the drugs they sell are cheaper, better quality and legal. They would be forced to go elsewhere to sell their products. Lives would be saved. Hundreds of thousands of DEA agents could be converted to border patrol officers, helping to keep illegal immigrants from crossing the border. Better yet, they could be used to investigate the multi million dollar companies that sub contract their construction work to local builders who hire illegals, in order to keep their hands clean.
Junior high students say it's so much easier to buy cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and pot than it is to score a six pack of beer. Why? Because, alcohol is legal and regulated while prohibited drugs are not. Why our country is still clinging to antiquated attitudes and concepts about altering our state of consciousness baffles me. We are always going to seek out mind altering drugs. We always have and we always will. When this practice neither harms or hinder my fellow man, why is it outlawed? Keeping drugs illegal costs lives, money, and only benefits politicians, drug cartels, and corrupt law enforcers. (See Al Capone during the first failed prohibition)
Dag Out
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