Posted on 07/06/2012 4:52:57 PM PDT by BfloGuy
From the New York Times article, "Numbers Tell of Failure in Drug War the War on Peaceful Americans Who Voluntary Choose to Use Intoxicants Not Currently Approved of By U.S. Politicians and Government Officials":
"When policy makers in Washington worry about Mexico these days, they think in terms of a handful of numbers: Mexico’s 19,500 hectares devoted to poppy cultivation for heroin; its 17,500 hectares growing cannabis; the 95 percent of American cocaine imports brought by Mexican cartels through Mexico and Central America.
They are thinking about the wrong numbers. If there is one number that embodies the seemingly intractable challenge imposed by the illegal drug trade on the relationship between the United States and Mexico, it is $177.26. That is the retail price, according to Drug Enforcement Administration data, of one gram of pure cocaine from your typical local pusher. That is 74 percent cheaper than it was 30 years ago.
Prices match supply with demand. If the supply of an illicit drug were to fall, say because the Drug Enforcement Administration stopped it from reaching the nation’s shores, we should expect its price to go up.
That is not what happened with cocaine. Despite billions spent on measures from spraying coca fields high in the Andes to jailing local dealers in Miami or Washington, a gram of cocaine cost about 16 percent less last year than it did in 2001. The drop is similar for heroin and methamphetamine.
These numbers contain pretty much all you need to evaluate the Mexican and American governments’ “war” to eradicate illegal drugs from the streets of the United States. They would do well to heed its message. What it says is that the struggle on which they have spent billions of dollars and lost tens of thousands of lives over the last four decades has failed.
Most important, conceived to eradicate the illegal drug market, the war on drugs cannot be won. Once they understand this, the Mexican and American governments may consider refocusing their strategies to take aim at what really matters: the health and security of their citizens, communities and nations."
Hard drugs, once legal or semi-legal as you imagine, will be marketed heavily. They will be as ubiquitous as alcohol.
Cocaine Slurpees, here we come!
As I said, you'll notice they don't sell alcohol Slurpees at 7-11, or any alcohol to any kids anywhere.
There will be lots of police around to enforce the incoherent web of legal and semi-legal laws that you envision.
Regulated is not "semi-legal" nor "incoherent" - and there are not "lots of police around" to enforce regulations on the legal drug alcohol.
Weak response = no response.
Alcohol kills 75,000 people a year in the United States, including 10,000 highway deaths. Lots of police and bureaucrats are trying to solve that problem.
So you want unconstitutional rules against Cocaine Slurpees? What kind of wishy-washy libertarian are you? Good libertarians are against all constraints on commerce. Let freedom ring!
So by "lots" you meant a number comparable to the number already employed? OK - so what's the problem with that?
So you want unconstitutional rules against Cocaine Slurpees?
How do you figure state or local laws against cocaine Slurpees are unconstitutional?
What kind of wishy-washy libertarian are you?
Who said I was a libertarian? My position is as stated - if it doesn't fit any of your preconceived categories, that's not my problem.
You really are a squish. You’ll get kicked out of the Ayn Rand Society fer sher.
Sorry for the delay in coming up with a response. I was worried about you. I saw that some old guy had jumped off the bridge in Los Angeles.
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