Your Tax Dollars on Drugs

SFGate.com ^ | 22 August 2002 | Debra J. Saunders

[JediGirl]

School districts that look to this list for help choosing which anti-drug programs to adopt, however, won't see affiliations between panelist and program clearly posted in the glossy 8-by-11-inch brochure the Dept of Ed folk put out. Panelist Gilbert Botvin, for example, is listed for his affiliation with Cornell University Medical College -- not with the exemplary "clearly articulated and logically appropriate" Life Skills Training program he developed.

[JediGirl]

...

[coloradan]

Lafferty operates on the assumption that kids -- especially poor kids -- are open to analysis that looks at the dollars-and-cents downside to the drug world. She's been in jails and interviewed dealers to see how many actually saved money. (Answer: precious few.) She appeals to kids' rational instincts.

This sort of "reasoning" is what passes muster at the government indoctrination camps: Dealers haven't managed to save any money, which is why you shouldn't become a dealer.

This just in: in a welfare state liberal socialist utopia, the tax rate is such that a lot of workers don't save any money either. If the above argument is reasonable (answer: it isn't) then we should also teach kids to not work.

[fporretto]

There's a lot of resistance to the notion that the tremendous riches and glamor of the drug trade, entirely an artifact of drug prohibition, adds power to the lure of the drug culture.

I lost a brother to drugs. As far as I know, he got involved with them because he wasn't too bright and knew it, and he thought dealing would be an easy way to make a pile of money. In that regard, drugs are a bit like the lottery -- many players, very few winners -- but the lottery, of course, funds the State, so perhaps we shouldn't discuss it.

I could be wrong about this, but the glamor factor suggests that decriminalization might actually reduce drug use. Inasmuch as the Drug War has been a losing proposition anyway, exchanging debatable marginal gains for enormous costs in lives, money, and lost liberties, that would be the best possible icing on the cake.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com

[headsonpikes]

You know, sometimes you're just too freakin' reasonable!! ;^) Good post.

[WindMinstrel]

I'm sorry to hear about your brother. I'm in the process of losing a brother-in-law the same way, and I'm of the same opinion on the matter.