Drug Prohibition

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexdrug14nov14,0,3274903.story

The problem with drug prohibition is pretty simple really.  When there is a great demand for drugs, and drugs are made illegal, criminals turn to the black market, and or criminal organizations/drug smugglers to get their drugs.  The result? A massive international trade in illicit drugs leaving thousands dead, millions upon millions of tax dollars wasted on hunting down & jailing peaceful potheads, and prison overcrowding with no good solution in sight but outright legalization.

Just like a long time ago in the U.S., alcohol prohibition brought us Al Capone and increased organized crime levels, our drug war is bringing us the corruption, violence, and wasteful spending we see in our government today.  The solution is simple:  legalize.

Legalization of marijuana would free up police resources to hunt down real criminals like murderers and rapists, while simultaneously destroying the criminal narcotics trade, and saving countless human lives & tax dollars that could be better spent elsewhere.

Here's a great link from wikipedia with an enormous number of great facts that I STRONGLY recommend you take the time to read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_war

To quote from it:  "Environmental consequences of the drug war, resulting from US-backed aerial fumigation of drug-growing operations in third world countries, have been criticized as detrimental to some of the world's most fragile ecosystems; the same aerial fumigation practices are further credited with causing health problems in local populations."

The link discusses everything from environmental consequences, practical effects, history, foreign policy, etc.  I see every reason for people to support drug legalization whether you are a law enforcement officer, an environmentalist, or a civil liberties advocate.


Here are a few organizations that support reforming U.S. Marijuana laws in this direction:

http://www.norml.org/

http://www.drugpolicy.org/homepage.cfm

http://www.mpp.org/site/c.glKZLeMQIsG/b.1086497/k.BF78/Home.htm

http://www.leap.cc/

Legalization of drugs is bad for this reason:

 Religious groups (Islam esp.) would take advantage of it, and encourage addiction.  They would call it something else under their religion, and hard-line religions would force people to become addicted.  It would mean the destruction of all rational, scientific thought in the world.