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April 26, 2006

The War on Sanity

"The past does not repeat itself,” said novelist Mark Twain,
“but it rhymes." This historical phenomenon must explain why the State continues on with its costly, deadly, and futile “war” against drugs. Eighty years ago during the last major jihad against people’s ability to get high all of the problems faced by today’s drug warriors were abundantly clear too; the heavy handed law enforcement, the pervasive corruption, and the vastly increased levels of criminal violence. About the only good thing that came from the Volstead Act was the smoldering contempt it engendered for busybodies and their influence on the government.

In a political environment such as today’s America, where the politicians at all levels endlessly poll, analyze, focus and pander to every possible niche in society, why is it that this crap continues on? Especially in light of a poll done by Zogby which found that 40% of Americans (and trending upward) want the private personal use of drugs by adults legalized. Period.

So why the deafening silence from the mainstream media and the pols? I would usually add a cynical “cui bono” here along with a rant about the sinister influence of the police-prison industrial complex. But even that doesn’t explain all this. Except for the most militant social conservative drug warriors nearly everyone agrees that what adults do voluntarily and peacefully amongst themselves is nobody else’s business but their own, and that the huge amount of time and money spent on persecuting people for private behavior is immoral. And yet it continues.

Posted by Ali Massoud at April 26, 2006 10:36 AM

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