Raid at Elk Lake, Ontario

Why are so many people for continuing the drug war? Honestly, did prohibition work? Of course not. Sure, drinking subsided at first, but then alcohol consumption rose. In addition to that, was the beginning of a high level of organized crime. Kind of like the organized crime that is around today caused by the prohibition of drugs: Drug cartels. What’s the best way to get rid of them? Oh, I know! Arrest them for tax evasi—wait, that won’t work. The actual way to hurt the drug cartels is to legalize drugs; stop what they do best. In fact, simply from the current legalization of marijuana in some states, for medicinal purposes, drug cartels are starting to hurt. Imagine how we could run them straight out of business if we simply took away their way of life.

Why does it seem to be a common thought that if we legalize drugs in this country that everyone will walk around stoned? The people who are interested in doing drugs, are already participating, and these people are going to continue to do drugs anyway. There is no stopping it. Looking at alcohol as an example again, there are many people who do not drink, for whatever reason, even though it is a perfectly legalized activity. The same can be said about drug prohibition. The people who don’t participate in drug-related activities today most likely won’t participate in those activities if they are made legal. Have you ever heard someone say, “No, I don’t want any of your dope because that’s illegal, and we might get in trouble?”

Narcotics smugglers destroying evidence

We the people, of the United States of America spend $6,245,301,475 per year on people in prison due to drug related crimes. Not to mention how much money and resources are used in attempting to catch so-called drug offenders. Just imagine how we could turn that decently sized deficit into a pretty good profit. The United States is passing up a pretty good opportunity to rake in the taxes from the sale of drugs. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not for making the taxes on drugs ridiculous, such as they are on tobacco, as a tool to try to persuade the citizens of this country to not do something. I think it is wrong for the government to discourage a behavior through taxes. With that being said, the government does have the right to tax the people, and they should tax drugs and get revenue that way.

Prohibition in the 1920’s didn’t work (that’s why it was repelled), and it continues to be a gigantic failure to this day. The only answer is the legalization of drugs. This will the country money, in the long run, and destroy the fabric that holds the drug cartels together.