Replies

<rant>
The level of ignorance and knee-jerk idiocy in these threads is pathetic.

I am ashamed of the current crop of FReepers; surely you can harvest better pro-prohibition arguments than these lame analogies and limp-wristed anecdotes? Where are your facts? Where are the blistering retorts showing the logic errors and historical precedents that support your pro-prohibition positions?

Could it be that there aren't any?

The prohibition of alcohol required a Constitutional Amendment - because back then, we still respected the Constitution. This, alone, for a Constitution-loving American, should be reason enough to end this madness.

But if it's not, note that alcohol consumption went up during Prohibition, especially the consumption of "hard liquour" (since "the hard stuff" was more cost-effective to smuggle). By the time this misguided experiment (see below) was repealed, the damage was already done - organized crime was here to stay, they simply changed products and kept right on going.

Why was Prohibition a misguided experiment? Because laws do not make people moral. Criminalizing what was once a legal and free personal choice simply created a very large class of new criminals - and made supplying their wants much more profitable. Unfortunately it also made it much more violent, drastically increased police and political corruption, etc. - because that's what prohibitions do; or at least, that's what every prohibition in history has done.

No wonder these threads end up in the Smoky Back Room - there's very little intelligent discourse in them.

So let me save the pro-prohibitionists some time by addressing the expected and obvious non-sequitor retorts in advance:

malum prohibitum is not equivalent to malum in se, so don't even waste pixels trying to go there. Killing a hooker in an alley is not the same as smoking a joint in your home, don't be stupid.
escalation of substances reduces the market, not expands it; yes, smuggling will continue, but cannabis is by far the vast majority of the market and arguably the least harmful psycho-active substance known to mankind
the Dutch experiment was wildly successful; their drug-related crime rates plummeted, and people voluntarily seeking help increased dramatically. The vast majority of hard-core "pot smokers" gave it up on their own by age 30 while continuing to lead otherwise productive lives [would that hard-core alcoholics could do the same!]
NO ONE ADVOCATES GIVING DRUGS TO MINORS, that's a really stupid strawman

</rant>

But if it's not, note that alcohol consumption went up during Prohibition

Note that consumption was NOT "prohibited" during Prohibition, making "Prohibition" a misnomer. Also note that consumption WENT THROUGH THE ROOF after "Prohibition" ended.

the Dutch experiment was wildly successful

110% FALSE.

http://www.christian.org.uk/news/20081211/organised-crime-forces-amsterdam-to-clean-up/

Organised crime forces Amsterdam to clean up

Authorities in Amsterdam will close down half the city’s brothels and cannabis cafes because they are attracting organised crime.

The Netherlands legalised prostitution eight years ago and has long tolerated the possession of small amounts of cannabis, which is often sold in ‘coffee shops’.

But after deciding last year that the country’s capital Amsterdam needed cleaning up, the city’s leaders this week unveiled plans to close half its brothels and coffee shops.

They admitted the “sex and drugs” culture had got out of hand, with an official document stating: “There is crime and an infrastructure that is maintained and fed by a host of criminogenic facilities.”

“Money laundering, extortion and human trafficking are things you do not see on the surface but they are hurting people and the city. We want to fight this,” said Amsterdam’s deputy mayor Lodewijk Asscher.

Mr Asscher hopes the clampdown will make the area seem less seedy and tourists will no longer be “embarrassed” to say they have been there.

Health officials estimate that Amsterdam has more than 7,000 addicts. These addicts are responsible for 80% of all property crime in the city, which forced Amsterdam to maintain a police presence far greater than those of cities of comparable size in the United States. Oh, well, so much for getting rid of the WOD means getting rid of the "police state".
The Dutch have not raised ANY tax revenue from drug sales, and drug violators account for 50% of the Dutch prison population. The Netherlands is the most crime-prone nation in Europe and most drug addicts live on state welfare payments and by committing crimes. Faced with public disgust over soaring drug-related crime, they are now re-thinking their liberal drug laws. Eberhard van der Laan, leader Of the Social Democrats in the Amsterdam City Council says, "People are absolutely fed up with all the troubles caused by drug addicts - car windows broken, noise, whole streets almost given up to the drug problem." The number of Amsterdam drug cafes rose from 30 to over 300 in one decade during this experiment.

This "experiment" didn't work? Shocking, I tell you, shocking!

NO ONE ADVOCATES GIVING DRUGS TO MINORS, that's a really stupid strawman.

Yes, there IS a group that advocates giving drugs to minors! DRUG DEALERS. How do you plan on stopping them? Remember, NO WAR ON DRUGS!