[3Lean]

"He says (and swears that other cops quietly agree with him) that the only way to end drug *violence* is to legalize them."

Actually there is another way. Simple supply and demand theory shows that stopping the supply of drugs is impossible while there is such a high profit margin, even if the possible outcome of dealing includes jail time or death at the hands of your competition. However, extremely aggressive pursuit and incarceration of drug users (demand) will cause demand to disappear. Without demand, prices will fall and the profit margin disappears. No profit margin = no dealers.

Is this realistic, probably not...

[archy]

Actually there is another way. Simple supply and demand theory shows that stopping the supply of drugs is impossible while there is such a high profit margin, even if the possible outcome of dealing includes jail time or death at the hands of your competition. However, extremely aggressive pursuit and incarceration of drug users (demand) will cause demand to disappear. Without demand, prices will fall and the profit margin disappears. No profit margin = no dealers.

Which of course will never occur if any highly-placed figures in government are in fact profitting from the widespread sale and distribution of illegal drugs themselves.

In that case, they'd need both to maintain the current illegal status of those drugs, while preventing any really effective programs from shutting off either the supply, demand or distribution of them. Which is pretty much what's been going on for the last three decades.

-archy-/-

[Rudder]

"...incarceration of drug users (demand) will cause demand to disappear."

Go to prison for drinking a Martini?!! never happen, too many drunks out there.