Pubdate: Wed, 02 Feb 2005
Source: Charlotte Creative Loafing (NC)
Copyright: 2005 Creative Loafing Charlotte, Inc.
Contact:  http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/newsstand/current/news_cover.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1100
Author: Kirk Muse
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

THE DRUG WAR AND PROHIBITION

In reference to Robert Sharpe's letter, "Drug War Worse Than Drugs" (Jan. 
26), I'd like to add that if tough-on-drugs policies worked, the quixotic 
goal of a drug free America would have been reached a long time ago. And if 
liberal marijuana laws created more drug use, the Netherlands would have 
much higher drug usage rates than the US. It does not. In fact, the Dutch 
use marijuana and other recreational drugs at much lower rates than 
Americans do. See http://www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm.

Beyond just the use of marijuana as medicine, why do so many of our 
politicians want to keep criminalizing a natural herb that has never been 
documented to kill a single person? Why do apparently intelligent people 
want to arrest and jail other people who use or sell an easy-to-grow weed?

To understand, study the history of US alcohol prohibition. The gangster Al 
Capone made most of his illegal money from alcohol prohibition. Capone 
often bragged that he "owned" the city of Chicago and indeed, he had most 
of the politicians and police who ran the city on his payroll. Al Capone 
was a successful businessman and it's not unreasonable to suspect that the 
drug cartels of today are following his business model.

It's also not unreasonable to suspect that the drug cartels may have many 
high-level politicians and police officials on their payroll. Obviously, 
those politicians would advocate the continuation of drug prohibition, 
which is making the drug cartels so fabulously wealthy.

I'm not saying that any specific so-called "drug warrior" is on the payroll 
of the cartels -- I'm just a little suspicious of the motives of all of the 
drug-war cheerleaders.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, AZ 
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MAP posted-by: Beth