Delving Deeper... It's not for the benefit of the drug pushers but the stroller pushers, the soccer moms and NASCAR Dads.
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Would Anyone Go back to Prohibition?
Editor's Note: To discuss this issue, we pull content directly from our A Libertarian
Political Program featured elsewhere on this site. We couldn't say it
better a different way.
We
do not advocate an end to the War on Drugs to benefit the pushers,
gangs, mobsters, or addicts. We advocate and end to the War on Drugs
because war-- any war, any type of war-- takes its toll on society.
There are collateral damages. We are always talking about the
collateral damages in international war-- which usually refers to
horrific suffering and eath for innocent civilians and private
property-- but seldom think about the collateral damages on every
member of our society, when the streets of our urban neighborhoods and
the rural back roads of our country are the front lines. So consider
this...
With
fewer prohibitions, violence will decline since the bulk of violence in
society is perpetrated by criminals in conflict with law enforcement
agencies enforcing victimless crimes. It should be noted that the War
on Drugs has been no more successful than Prohibition and is similar in
its attempt to control the use and distribution of mood altering
substances.
Like Prohibition, the War on Drugs has created a criminal
industry that has inflated the market value of drugs, has escalated
violence and secondary property crimes related to the artificially high
cost of purchasing illegal drugs.
Of course, we are concerned about the harmful
effects of all types of addictive substances including alcohol and
tobacco, and advocate for treatment and education in the private sector, as the means of
fighting the social cost of drug addiction rather than criminalization.
As a secondary social benefit of the end of the war on drugs, it will
be possible for users to maintain their habits without putting their
own or their family's financial security in jeopardy, since the instant
deflation in the cost of such drugs, once legalized, would make the cost of what used to be street drugs
incidental and comparable to the cost of other legal substances such as
alcohol and tobacco.
We would be more likely to see functioning addicts, just as we now
currently see functioning alcoholics, who while are significantly
affected and compromised by their addiction, are still able to maintain
their employment and continue to provide for the family while using.
One more "functional addict" is one less street bum, one less provider
dropping the ball, leaving a family destitute, one less person likely
to resort to crime to support a habit.
See also, Good News/Bad News stories on the effects of the US Drug War on Mexico.