"To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing,
if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

The Longest War

by West Virginia Rebel

On why the Great War on Drugs has been a failure:

The war on drugs not only wastes law-enforcement resources, it also corrodes our respect for the law in general. Using a relatively benign drug like marijuana should become a regulated pastime, indulged in by consenting adults, much like drinking alcohol or gambling. Drunk driving kills more than 17,000 people each year, and 3 percent of the U.S. population meets the criteria for “problem gamblers.” But no one talks seriously about reviving the 18th Amendment or shuttering Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Why? Because Prohibition taught us that banning such activities creates a nation of lawbreakers and a popular culture that exalts criminality. Costly, dubious, and ineffective legal strictures just end up undermining the social compact they’re intended to reinforce.

Now I’m not suggesting that we legalize everything under the sun. But we have been fighting this “War” in its current form since the 1960s (and that phase was politically motivated, too, because the hippies were using this stuff). Is it too much at this point to ask our elected officials to show a little discretion in how the punishments are meted out?

Comments

<< Back to main