cuteintern's Journal: Penn and Teler: evoking thought.

I was all ready to go off on something and then I found Greplaw and started reading along

ooh, shiny!

War on drugs. So I picked up Penn & Teller: Bullshit on BitTorrent. It was interesting what they had to say about the War on Drugs.

Here's for you SAT fans. IMO,
War on Drugs : Marijuana as Prohibition : Alcohol
I have felt this since college, probably about the time I first tried pot (shocking!).

Vice squads : Prostitution as Prohibition : Alcohol. It's interesting how prostitution is legal in some localities, and not others. I caught a Sex in WW2 program on the History Channel over the weekend which dealt with the prostition trade in Hawaii during WW2 and some of the trials and tribulations of the prostitutes.

As I grew up, and had a chance to think about the world around me (something I actually learned in college- how to observe and think) I realized that there was very little actual harm in these simple pleasures of the flesh. Much harm came when such pleasures were controlled - taken away.

People want what they want; it is this simple. If they can't get it in one place, they will get it from another place. If you make something illegal, then people will break the law to get it, or use it. This goes for guns, drugs, porn, even rations during wartime.

Disclaimer: I beleive in moderation; to throw open the gates and declare a free for all would be in haste. There are certain things I am not comfortable with, like child porn, heroin and AK-47s. Now, that's out of the way.

Harness these things: legitimize them and tax them. Tax the f*** out of them if you have to- it's what we're doing to cigarettes already.

Limits? Mirror the DWI laws, or expand them to include the new drugs. No driving while stoned, on Coke or while having sex with a prostitute. These combinations are too dangerous to other people. Harness the demand to create new tax revenue, de-criminalize non-violent offenders, and bump violent dealers and pimps out of the picture.

Which is the end to close the circle. Power abhors a vacuum, and who is the biggest bully on the street? the government, unequivocally. Play nice with the other drug dealers and also pay your taxes, or we will jail you.

Hey, it's how Al Capone went down. Income tax evasion. Al Capone? He was a violent, murderous Chicago gangster during Prohibition. He controlled liquor in Chicago.

And Prohibition failed because it was simply impractical and unpopular. Which doesn't surprise me, because it's what gave Capone traction in the first place: he was willing to break the law to supply something a whole lot of people wanted. And he'd break your face (rather, probably kill you) if you got in his way.