Posted on 12/06/2012 2:25:44 PM PST by Responsibility2nd
Editor's note: Richard Branson is the founder of Virgin Group, with global branded revenues of $21 billion, and a member of the Global Drug Commission. Sir Richard was knighted in 1999 for his services to entrepreneurship. Watch today for Branson's interview with CNN/US' Erin Burnett Out Front at 7pm ET and tomorrow (12/7) with CNN International's Connect the World program at 4pm ET
(CNN) -- In 1925, H. L. Mencken wrote an impassioned plea: "Prohibition has not only failed in its promises but actually created additional serious and disturbing social problems throughout society. There is not less drunkenness in the Republic but more. There is not less crime, but more. ... The cost of government is not smaller, but vastly greater. Respect for law has not increased, but diminished."
This week marks the 79th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition in December 1933, but Mencken's plea could easily apply to today's global policy on drugs.
We could learn a thing or two by looking at what Prohibition brought to the United States: an increase in consumption of hard liquor, organized crime taking over legal production and distribution and widespread anger with the federal government.
~snip~
As part of this work, a new documentary, "Breaking the Taboo," narrated by Oscar award-winning actor Morgan Freeman and produced by my son Sam Branson's indie Sundog Pictures, followed the commission's attempts to break the political taboo over the war on drugs. The film exposes the biggest failure of global policy in the past 40 years and features revealing contributions from global leaders, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
It is time we broke the taboo and opened up the debate about the war on drugs. We need alternatives that focus on education, health, taxation and regulation.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Who are you to question Resposibility2nd? He has declared the subject closed and you stupid. Bow to your betters and Stfu.
;-)
Tom Tancredo has already been dismissed as a has-been. Not credible. Rejected even in Colorado.
For you to insinuate Thomas Sowell is for legalizing drugs is a lie.
I see you are no SoCon as you slander Bill Bennet.
But the real laugh is your support for Gary Johnson. The same liberal Gary Johnson who voted for Barack Obama.
You are 0 for 4 on conservative comments. Go back to DU.
The problem is, the so called drug war is worse than a joke. It's been nothing but an abuse of our (law abiding citizens) rights on multiple fronts that have done nothing to deal with all of the problems of drugs.
IMO, *if*, and it won't happen, our nanny state would let the druggies kill themselves off, then let them have the stuff. Let us all open carry to protect ourselves, don't prosecute us when we shoot the druggie trying to rob us, let the meth heads all kill themselves.
I was out of state, got an ear infection and couldn't get sudafed until I got back home. All because of the damn meth users. Screw them. I don't care if they all fry themselves, die in the streets and we send street cleaners around to sweep them up. I'm sick of the state abridging my rights to "protect" people that don't want to be protected and don't deserve it anyway.
The state and the do gooders need to learn that some people can't be saved.
Evidently you touched a nerve.
Let me boil this down for you: You’re an control freak imbecile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Says the Gary Johnson (Vote for Obama) supporter. If you have to resort to name calling, it shows you have no valid arguments and therefore you have to throw out insults.
Whats next, FRiend? Gonna call me a poopy-head?
I think your disposition would be improved by a few tokes.
Goldwater = yes.
Reagan = no. ERegan made one semi-favorable comment regarding libertarians in 1975 and wham! All of a sudden he’s the poster child for libertarians?
Not Hardly.
Gary Johnson, the man, would run rings around you.
Bill Buckley was a serious conservative and opposed drug prohibition...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
A serious conservative is a Social Conservative. That leaves Buckley off the list.
SoCons are pro-God, pro-Constitution and pro-family. The drug scourge is anathema to these values.
The headline asserts that the war on drugs is a failure. And yet we have yet to define exactly what constitutes a “failure”. Impassioned arguments one way or another skirt the issue of costs versus benefits. Objectively, and in terms of the drug problem today pitted against the cost incured both monetarily and the erosion of personal liberties (which admittedly has no definable dollar value), it is a failure. What should be done to remedy the problem is another issue entirely.
>> As I often point out - there is no serious conservative anywhere who endorses legal drugs. This is a leftist issue.
You’re talking about statism not Conservatism. There are plenty in the Leftist camp that don’t want unregulated drug control either. The enforcement you seem to appreciate is a function of statism. The basis for the enforcement is the mutually acceptable law passed by both sides of the aisle.
Doesn’t matter. There’s an above ground economy that thrives on the enforcement and prosecution of the “illegal” drug trade. Too many “good” people are making a shitload of money from it.
I’m not a drug user. It’s a grotesque world. But that doesn’t mean looking at alternatives to the current “drug war” isn’t warranted.
My take on the War on Drugs is simple, Governement does not have the authority to make a substance Illegal in any way shape or form if GOD Made it. You want to talk about Manufactured Drugs then we can talk, but if God put it on this planet he did it for a reason and Nobody has a right to ban it for any reason..
While I agree with the tone of your comment, from a practical perspective I have to take issue. Let’s take opium, the semi-refined smokable kind. England ran that crap into China turning a large segment of their population into basically junkies. They had the boxer rebellion and we all know history, but was it within the legal/moral sphere of the government to ban the trafficking and use of opium? A good rational argument can be made for the side of the government in this case.
>> The same liberal Gary Johnson who voted for Barack Obama.
Johnson is liberal with no home in the now radicalized Democrat Party.
People turn themselves into junkies, it is a conscious decision on their part, unless you are saying they were all Forced into it?? If you make Bad decisions in your life, so be it. And I see no responsibility on my part to feel sorry or help in any way for for the bad decisions people make of their own free will. We used to call this the consequences of your actions, not sure what you would call it today, Racist??
Here in Washington, as you know, folks voted to legalize marijuana.
I have three friends who use it pretty regularly. Two of them are conservatives with their own businesses who probably use it three times a week. One is a liberal who claims he uses it every day. He holds down a full time job.
None of them drink very much. I know others who do not use it who drink a lot.
The Seattle Police have gone on record that they will pursue a guy drinking a beer in public over a guy smoking pot.
I guess we will see what happens - it just got legal at midnight on Wednesday night.
I think it is a state’s right’s issue. Of course, those who really wanted it legalized do not believe in states rights. Guess we will see what happens with the federales. But our pattycakes senator is good chums with the bummers, so who knows?
Here in Washington, as you know, folks voted to legalize marijuana.
I have three friends who use it pretty regularly. Two of them are conservatives with their own businesses who probably use it three times a week. One is a liberal who claims he uses it every day. He holds down a full time job.
None of them drink very much. I know others who do not use it who drink a lot.
The Seattle Police have gone on record that they will pursue a guy drinking a beer in public over a guy smoking pot.
I guess we will see what happens - it just got legal at midnight on Wednesday night.
I think it is a state’s right’s issue. Of course, those who really wanted it legalized do not believe in states rights. Guess we will see what happens with the federales. But our pattycakes senator is good chums with the bummers, so who knows?
If they refuse to enforce the law, they should all be fired.
How about those who are against any restrictions on drugs/pharmaceuticals?
I have to respectfully disagree with you. There are many TRUE conservatives that see what oppression the so called war on drugs has ushered in. From civil forfeiture laws to the militarization of our police and the erosion of our Constitutional rights and routine dynamic entries. Try to get on a plane with too much cash and see where that gets you or even try to send a couple thousand dollars via Western Union. The War On Drugs goes after the small fish while the big players thrive in the market that only they supply. Now even Doctors are terrified to prescribe legal drugs for fear the DEA might come after them while the drug cartels are living large. Homeowners have been setup for forfeitures because they own desirable property. I was once told by the authorities that I must evict a tenant illegally and throw them out immediately if I wanted to keep the house from being seized. The tenant had not even been found guilty! Like most things the Federal Government touches, they screwed this up too, overreaching in the wrong areas and failing to do enough in the right areas. No, I’m not a drug user but I believe that the problems that they present would be much smaller than the present situation and our liberties would be much safer. In this case, I think that the “cure” has been far worse than the disease. By ending the war, the cartels would dry up and wither away or have to find more legitimate enterprises. I’m not an old hippie or libertarian either!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.