Sour Grapes

WSJ: End marijuana prohibition

In recognition of the 7th anniversary of the end of the First Prohibition, the Wall Street Journal is running an op-ed calling for the end of the current prohibition against certain drugs.

Today is the 75th anniversary of that blessed day in 1933 when Utah became the 36th and deciding state to ratify the 21st amendment, thereby repealing the 18th amendment. This ended the nation's disastrous experiment with alcohol prohibition.
It's already shaping up as a day of celebration, with parties planned, bars prepping for recession-defying rounds of drinks, and newspapers set to publish cocktail recipes concocted especially for the day.

But let's hope it also serves as a day of reflection. We should consider why our forebears rejoiced at the relegalization of a powerful drug long associated with bountiful pleasure and pain, and consider too the lessons for our time....
Why did our forebears wise up so quickly while Americans today still struggle with sorting out the consequences of drug misuse from those of drug prohibition?
It's not because alcohol is any less dangerous than the drugs that are banned today. Marijuana, by comparison, is relatively harmless: little association with violent behavior, no chance of dying from an overdose, and not nearly as dangerous as alcohol if one misuses it or becomes addicted. Most of heroin's dangers are more a consequence of its prohibition than the drug's distinctive properties.

Amen! Sensible legalization of drugs would immediately and dramatically reduce the crime rate and at the same time free up prosecutors to go after the real bad guys [via The Daily Beast's Cheat Sheet].

Original post by Namenlosen Trinker at 12/05/2008 11:49:00 AM Eastern time :: 0 comment(s) ::

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