Support for the War on Drugs is one of the few things that (many) MAGA folks support that I do not.
It's your body, why do politicians have the right to tell you what to put in it? Yes, many drugs are BAD for you. So are many popular foods -- and people disagree about WHICH foods are the bad ones. For that matter, EVERYTHING we do or DON'T do has its dangers. Go outside and you could get mugged or hit by a car; stay home and you could slip in the shower and crack your skull (my wife knew someone whose 32-yr-old husband died exactly that way) or die in a house fire.
Choosing which dangers to expose yourself to is a part of life.
America banned alcohol throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. It took a Constitutional Amendment -- the 18th, ratified in January 1919 -- to do so.
Result?
Instantly turned anyone involved in "the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" into a criminal, thus
Removing all consumer protections from the alcohol industry, causing death and blindness for thousands and
Quickly creating violent criminal gangs -- they'd be called "cartels" today -- sustained by the huge profits that only Prohibition could provide, and
Giving politicians a reason to create a nation-wide police state with armed agents, and
Almost instantly corrupting the political and judicial class even more deeply than before as big-money bribes and serious coercion motivated government employees from the local to the national levels to cooperate with gangsters, and
May have actually INCREASED alcohol consumption by the American public (this is disputed and there's probably no way to know precisely the effect on overall alcohol consumption, but the gangland profits, the speakeasies, and other data certainly proves that Prohibition failed to stop Americans from drinking).
Amendment 21, repealing Amendment 18, was ratified in December 1933.
Apparently, American politicians missed having the excuse for tyranny that Prohibition provided, because they soon began demonizing marijuana and not long after, other recreational drugs as well. Problem solved! The police state could be resurrected and even enlarged!
As before with Prohibition of alcohol, Prohibition of other drugs has created massive corruption, stunning levels of violence, harm to consumers from violence and from bad or tainted product, and has clearly failed at preventing drug use. The massive profits from illegal drugs incentivizes drug sellers to actively push drug use on Americans, and Hollywood has helped with the advertising.
Drug use isn't smart, but coercive drug PROHIBITION is outright stupid: it is literal tyranny and like all tyranny causes harm (and lots of it) instead of good.
Freedom! It's what our Founding generation fought for. I say we bring it back.
I don't know what the hell the kids are doing these days, but fentanyl is getting into everything. My middle son has 2 best friends. One lost his older brother a few years back and then a few months ago lost his younger sister. His other best friend lost his only sibling, a sister, Friday. That's 3 funerals for 20-somethings that all live within a mile of me in a sleepy Houston suburb. Unbelievable.
The calls to reevaluate the whole war and “Status Quo” at least in the U.S. Usually amount to more social spending, free rehab, decriminalization etc. None of which have thus far seemed to substantially affect the criminal/black market. About the only thing it really has done is stop cops from chucking you in the slammer over a blunt.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Colombian President has a plan that doesn’t amount to “give us money you Fat Imperialist Dogs”.
The current trend for U.S international relationships though suggests that it’ll be the traditional request for the U.S to cut them a check with no oversight on how it’s spent. Much like Zelensky has demanded time and time again.
Support for the War on Drugs is one of the few things that (many) MAGA folks support that I do not.
It's your body, why do politicians have the right to tell you what to put in it? Yes, many drugs are BAD for you. So are many popular foods -- and people disagree about WHICH foods are the bad ones. For that matter, EVERYTHING we do or DON'T do has its dangers. Go outside and you could get mugged or hit by a car; stay home and you could slip in the shower and crack your skull (my wife knew someone whose 32-yr-old husband died exactly that way) or die in a house fire.
Choosing which dangers to expose yourself to is a part of life.
America banned alcohol throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. It took a Constitutional Amendment -- the 18th, ratified in January 1919 -- to do so.
Result?
Instantly turned anyone involved in "the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" into a criminal, thus
Removing all consumer protections from the alcohol industry, causing death and blindness for thousands and
Quickly creating violent criminal gangs -- they'd be called "cartels" today -- sustained by the huge profits that only Prohibition could provide, and
Giving politicians a reason to create a nation-wide police state with armed agents, and
Almost instantly corrupting the political and judicial class even more deeply than before as big-money bribes and serious coercion motivated government employees from the local to the national levels to cooperate with gangsters, and
May have actually INCREASED alcohol consumption by the American public (this is disputed and there's probably no way to know precisely the effect on overall alcohol consumption, but the gangland profits, the speakeasies, and other data certainly proves that Prohibition failed to stop Americans from drinking).
Amendment 21, repealing Amendment 18, was ratified in December 1933.
Apparently, American politicians missed having the excuse for tyranny that Prohibition provided, because they soon began demonizing marijuana and not long after, other recreational drugs as well. Problem solved! The police state could be resurrected and even enlarged!
As before with Prohibition of alcohol, Prohibition of other drugs has created massive corruption, stunning levels of violence, harm to consumers from violence and from bad or tainted product, and has clearly failed at preventing drug use. The massive profits from illegal drugs incentivizes drug sellers to actively push drug use on Americans, and Hollywood has helped with the advertising.
Drug use isn't smart, but coercive drug PROHIBITION is outright stupid: it is literal tyranny and like all tyranny causes harm (and lots of it) instead of good.
Freedom! It's what our Founding generation fought for. I say we bring it back.
Hang the users and dealers from the nearest street lamp. Problem solved for the cost of rope.
We should start with the US government agencies that use it for funding their clandestine operations against US citizens.
I don't know what the hell the kids are doing these days, but fentanyl is getting into everything. My middle son has 2 best friends. One lost his older brother a few years back and then a few months ago lost his younger sister. His other best friend lost his only sibling, a sister, Friday. That's 3 funerals for 20-somethings that all live within a mile of me in a sleepy Houston suburb. Unbelievable.
The calls to reevaluate the whole war and “Status Quo” at least in the U.S. Usually amount to more social spending, free rehab, decriminalization etc. None of which have thus far seemed to substantially affect the criminal/black market. About the only thing it really has done is stop cops from chucking you in the slammer over a blunt.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Colombian President has a plan that doesn’t amount to “give us money you Fat Imperialist Dogs”.
The current trend for U.S international relationships though suggests that it’ll be the traditional request for the U.S to cut them a check with no oversight on how it’s spent. Much like Zelensky has demanded time and time again.