No wonder there are corrupted special interests in high places no pun intended who are adamant about making ***** ***** and ******* 
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-fleming5-2008jul05,0,3205714.story
This is the U.S. on *****
Only cops and crooks have benefited from $2.5 trillion spent fighting trafficking.
By David W. Fleming and James P. Gray
July 5, 2008
The United States' so-called war on ***** brings to mind the old saying that if you find yourself trapped in a deep hole, stop digging. Yet, last week, the Senate approved an aid package to combat **** trafficking in Mexico and Central America, with a record $400 million going to Mexico and $65 million to Central America.
The United States has been spending $69 billion a year worldwide for the last 40 years, for a total of $2.5 trillion, on **** prohibition -- with little to show for it. Is anyone actually benefiting from this war? Six groups come to mind.
The first group are the **** lords in nations such as Colombia, Afghanistan and Mexico, as well as those in the United States. They are making billions of dollars every year -- tax free.
The second group are the street gangs that infest many of our cities and neighborhoods, whose main source of income is the sale of ******* *****.
Third are those people in government who are paid well to fight the first two groups. Their powers and bureaucratic fiefdoms grow larger with each tax dollar spent to fund this massive program that has been proved not to work.
Fourth are the politicians who get elected and reelected by talking tough -- not smart, just tough -- about ***** and crime. But the tougher we get in prosecuting nonviolent **** crimes, the softer we get in the prosecution of everything else because of the limited resources to fund the criminal justice system.
The fifth group are people who make money from increased crime. They include those who build prisons and those who staff them. The prison guards union is one of the strongest lobbying groups in California today, and its ranks continue to grow.
And last are the terrorist groups worldwide that are principally financed by the sale of ******* *****.
Who are the losers in this war? Literally everyone else, especially our *****ren.
Today, there are more ***** on our streets at cheaper prices than ever before. There are more than 1.2 million people behind bars in the U.S., and a large percentage of them for nonviolent **** usage. Under our failed **** policy, it is easier for young people to obtain ******* ***** than a six-pack of ****. Why? Because the sellers of ******* ***** don't ask **** for IDs. As soon as we outlaw a substance, we abandon our ability to regulate and control the marketing of that substance.
After we came to our senses and repealed ******* prohibition, homicides dropped by 60% and continued to decline until World War II. Today's ****** rates would likely again plummet if we ended **** prohibition.
So what is the answer? Start by removing criminal penalties for *********, just as we did for *******. If we were to do this, according to state budget figures, California alone would save more than $1 billion annually, which we now spend in a futile effort to eradicate ********* use and to jail nonviolent users. Is it any wonder that ********* has become the largest cash crop in California?
We could generate billions of dollars by taxing the stuff, just as we do with tobacco and *******.
We should also reclassify most Schedule I ***** (***** that the federal government alleges have no medicinal value, including ********* and heroin) as Schedule II ***** (which require a ************), with the government regulating their production, overseeing their potency, controlling their distribution and allowing licensed professionals (physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, etc.) to prescribe them. This course of action would acknowledge that medical issues, such as **** addiction, are best left under the supervision of medical doctors instead of police officers.
The mission of the criminal justice system should always be to protect us from one another and not from ourselves. That means that **** users who drive a motor vehicle or commit other crimes while under the influence of these ***** would continue to be held criminally responsible for their actions, with strict penalties. But that said, the system should not be used to protect us from ourselves.
Ending **** prohibition, taxing and regulating ***** and spending tax dollars to treat addiction and dependency are the approaches that many of the world's industrialized countries are taking. Those approaches are ones that work.
David W. Fleming, a lawyer, is the chairman of the Los Angeles County Business Federation and immediate past chairman of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. James P. Gray is a judge of the Orange County Superior Court.[/QUOTE]
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-fleming5-2008jul05,0,3205714.story
This is the U.S. on *****
Only cops and crooks have benefited from $2.5 trillion spent fighting trafficking.
By David W. Fleming and James P. Gray
July 5, 2008
The United States' so-called war on ***** brings to mind the old saying that if you find yourself trapped in a deep hole, stop digging. Yet, last week, the Senate approved an aid package to combat **** trafficking in Mexico and Central America, with a record $400 million going to Mexico and $65 million to Central America.
The United States has been spending $69 billion a year worldwide for the last 40 years, for a total of $2.5 trillion, on **** prohibition -- with little to show for it. Is anyone actually benefiting from this war? Six groups come to mind.
The first group are the **** lords in nations such as Colombia, Afghanistan and Mexico, as well as those in the United States. They are making billions of dollars every year -- tax free.
The second group are the street gangs that infest many of our cities and neighborhoods, whose main source of income is the sale of ******* *****.
Third are those people in government who are paid well to fight the first two groups. Their powers and bureaucratic fiefdoms grow larger with each tax dollar spent to fund this massive program that has been proved not to work.
Fourth are the politicians who get elected and reelected by talking tough -- not smart, just tough -- about ***** and crime. But the tougher we get in prosecuting nonviolent **** crimes, the softer we get in the prosecution of everything else because of the limited resources to fund the criminal justice system.
The fifth group are people who make money from increased crime. They include those who build prisons and those who staff them. The prison guards union is one of the strongest lobbying groups in California today, and its ranks continue to grow.
And last are the terrorist groups worldwide that are principally financed by the sale of ******* *****.
Who are the losers in this war? Literally everyone else, especially our *****ren.
Today, there are more ***** on our streets at cheaper prices than ever before. There are more than 1.2 million people behind bars in the U.S., and a large percentage of them for nonviolent **** usage. Under our failed **** policy, it is easier for young people to obtain ******* ***** than a six-pack of ****. Why? Because the sellers of ******* ***** don't ask **** for IDs. As soon as we outlaw a substance, we abandon our ability to regulate and control the marketing of that substance.
After we came to our senses and repealed ******* prohibition, homicides dropped by 60% and continued to decline until World War II. Today's ****** rates would likely again plummet if we ended **** prohibition.
So what is the answer? Start by removing criminal penalties for *********, just as we did for *******. If we were to do this, according to state budget figures, California alone would save more than $1 billion annually, which we now spend in a futile effort to eradicate ********* use and to jail nonviolent users. Is it any wonder that ********* has become the largest cash crop in California?
We could generate billions of dollars by taxing the stuff, just as we do with tobacco and *******.
We should also reclassify most Schedule I ***** (***** that the federal government alleges have no medicinal value, including ********* and heroin) as Schedule II ***** (which require a ************), with the government regulating their production, overseeing their potency, controlling their distribution and allowing licensed professionals (physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, etc.) to prescribe them. This course of action would acknowledge that medical issues, such as **** addiction, are best left under the supervision of medical doctors instead of police officers.
The mission of the criminal justice system should always be to protect us from one another and not from ourselves. That means that **** users who drive a motor vehicle or commit other crimes while under the influence of these ***** would continue to be held criminally responsible for their actions, with strict penalties. But that said, the system should not be used to protect us from ourselves.
Ending **** prohibition, taxing and regulating ***** and spending tax dollars to treat addiction and dependency are the approaches that many of the world's industrialized countries are taking. Those approaches are ones that work.
David W. Fleming, a lawyer, is the chairman of the Los Angeles County Business Federation and immediate past chairman of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. James P. Gray is a judge of the Orange County Superior Court.[/QUOTE]
