THIS CANNOT HAPPEN!

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: 419

As our 2 Paragraphs Family knows, as a sitting trial court judge I came out publicly against our nation’s policy of Drug Prohibition back in 1992, saying that it had failed us.  Since that time we have inflicted some major wounds upon ourselves and many other countries in the world because we have continued to pursue it.  What are some of these needless self-inflicted wounds?

• Fentanyl: According to the DEA, in 2023 alone about 75,000 Americans have died from taking fentanyl, which is about 200 per day.  (Talk about a wound!)  But, actually, there have been very few deaths from fentanyl overdoses, the deaths come from fentanyl poisoning due to the complete lack of quality control.  People either do not know that fentanyl is in the substance they are taking or they do not know the strength.  We had the same problem with illicit alcohol (White Lightning) until that problem disappeared almost overnight when we repealed Alcohol Prohibition.  In addition, countries like China are not only making lots of money by manufacturing illicit fentanyl, but are also happily seeing the disruption that it is causing in our country.
• Drug Money: Most of the Drug Cartels in countries like Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela seem to have more money and guns than their governments do.  And virtually all of that money comes from our purchase of their illicit drugs!  So now this situation has gotten so bad that the United States Government seems to be seriously considering sending our military troops to Mexico to control the drug cartels.  Of course, unless the Mexican government gave its permission for us to be there, this would rightfully be seen as an Act of War!  BTW, Drug money has also helped to keep tyrants like Fidel Castro in Cuba, Erich Honecker in East Germany and Kim Jong Un in North Korea in power. And most of that drug money also has come from us.  We can put an end to this enormous problem by changing our drug policy to one of strict regulation and control.
• As I frequently saw in Juvenile Court, most young men in the lower economic areas realize that they will never make money in professional sports, so they soon realize that the most money they could ever obtain in their lives would be from selling illicit drugs.  And there are always drug dealers lurking around them to reinforce that point.  So Drug Prohibition affirmatively corrupts many of our children.
• The United States of America leads the world in the incarceration of its people – both by sheer numbers as well as per capita.  (Okay, it could be China because their stats are unreliable.)  But without our policy of Drug Prohibition our numbers would be far less.

Okay, I also acknowledge that this issue is multifaceted.  But think of it this way: If adults’ use of drugs only harms them, this should not be a crime.  These people should be brought closer to medical professionals who can help them instead of being made automatic criminals and being pushed farther away.  Thus before any of these drugs would be prescribed to them the potential users would get continual counseling and guidance.  But if any of these people burglarize our houses to get money to buy their drugs, or drive under their influence, that is and should be a crime.  Why?  Because now they are putting other people’s property and safety at risk.  Also please consider that the most successful approach to mind-altering drugs in our lifetimes is the way we have approached the use of cigarettes.  Cigarette usage has gone down appreciably in the last two decades not by making it illegal for adults, but by strictly regulating and controlling their sales and by putting honest medical information out into the marketplace. The same thing would almost certainly be true for these other mind-altering and sometimes dangerous substances as well.  And, finally, we can only put illicit sellers out of business, like we have with illicit tobacco and alcohol sellers, by strictly regulating and controlling these substances!  (And we could tax them as well, within reason.)  So please give these realities some thought, discuss them with your friends, acquaintances and elected oficials, and vote accordingly.

(A question from a nine year-old boy: “If vegetarians eat vegetables, and pescatarians eat fish, what do humanitarians eat?”)