Continuing very bad news from Mexico. I imagine we are all more or less tuning out. The massacre continues. It’s possible that we are seeing our neighbor’s transformation from a reasonable approximation of a representative polity to a pure gangster state. It’s mostly our fault, I think. I don’t mean because we use drugs. I refer to our collective stubborneness regarding cause and effect and the illegal status of most drugs. If it were legal, cannabis would probably cost less than tobacco, cocaine only a little more. Mexicans would have no motivation to gun one another down in the streets for the profits such prices would entail. Nor would Americans. Opponents of legalization are always talking as if there were two well established sides to the issue of legalization. I don’t know what the other side is. I have not seen it. I mean, that I have not seen serious empirical arguments, just blind prejudice spoken with hot passion and a superb disrespect for simple logic. The so-called “war on drugs” is, in my opinion, the most disastrous war this country has been running or close to it. This assessment takes into account the fact that the war cannot be won.
PS My current intake of intoxicating substances amounts to one glass of wine with each dinner, of two on special occasions. I sip expensive 80-proof booze with friends four or five times per year. I have consumed practically no cannabis for many years. I might if it were cheaper. The strongest argument against it is that it contributes indirectly to obesity.
I Used to Be French: an Immature Autobiography (2014)
Les pumas de grande banlieue: histoires d'émigration (2014)
I do think our “War On Poverty” is a strong challenger for 1st place. I must say that we ought to stop declaring war on nebulous things…it gets us nowhere except an empty bank account. I’m sure the War On Obesity will be the next major quagmire of this nature. The wars on drugs, poverty, obesity, et al, have/will cost us more than all of our conventional warfare.
Dvid: You may be right but ti seems to me the failure of the War on Drugs is several times more obvious than that other failure.
Quite true. And it’s easier to demonize drug users as opposed to poor people.
Finally we agree 100% on something.
Funny story: Before the last election (2010) I stopped to talk to some young folks on Pacific Ave. These were people I thought would support legalizing pot. Turns of they objected to legalization. They “knew some people” who would be hard- pressed to make ends meet if they didn’t have the profits from selling pot at high prices supported by the laws that keep pot illegal.
So what my take-away from this?
After 40+ years pot is still readily available (and as I’ve been told more potent than ever).
Everyone involved in the trade is making money, from the street level sellers to the big wholesalers ( drug cartels).
The bureaucracy (law enforcement and jails) is busy keeping the status quo going at great expense and no effect.
In addition to the huge social benefits, think about the financial benefits if cannabis had the same sort of ‘sin taxes’ as alcohol & tobacco. I much prefer that social engineering take place through tax policy rather than the criminal code.
Yes, the lesser of two great evils.