http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-01-29-ms13_N.htm
This disturbing, even hard to believe statistic should alert us again to the underlying socio-economic dynamic created by legal prohibitions against drugs. Now while I would not recommend anyone to become involved with drugs, the simple fact is that many people do so in spite of drug laws and decades of aggressive law enforcement activities. Human nature being what it is, this situation is not likely to change in the short term. For the most part, people drawn to drug experiences are not dissuaded by logic or sometimes even the negative experiences of others. They crave such experiences and many of them in time will seek them regardless of the risks or social disapproval.
As such is the case, it is necessary for the larger society to examine closely the adverse effect that vainly trying to control substances has had. In short, it has created the world's largest government subsidy for gangs of criminals who deal in illegal drugs. Any time that something is suppressed in one way, it comes out distorted somewhere else. This is exactly what has happened with drug use over the last century. Prior to the modern era of the "War on Drugs," drug use and international drug trafficking certainly existed, but the organization of the groups involved was a mere shadow of what it has grown to today. Now while part of the change is due simply to the advance of technology, much more is not. Simply put, if most controlled substances were legalized, the price of drugs would decline, greatly reducing the income and hence the power of drug gangs.
Business as usual for Drug Gangs
Now what does this have to do with crime rates in general? In the era before the war on drugs and the corresponding large drug gangs, much more "everyday" crime such as robbery, assault and murder was committed by individuals for individual reasons. These individuals could be much more easily identified by police and apprehended thus bringing "closure" to the crime. Now however, these secondary crimes are simply business as usual for the drug gangs. To maximize their profits, as any good corporation does, illegal businesses uses illegal means. If you carry illegal drugs, guns, large sums of cash and hide from the police, what is it to you to intimidate, steal or even kill? Not much more at all. In fact, it becomes a lifestyle - sociopathic "achievements" that gang members pride themselves on.
Because of the continual recruiting of the gangs at the organizational level and the continuing allure of significant financial gain, arrests of individuals or even their deaths are trivial. When one gang member is eliminated, another takes his place whether it be at the highest or lowest level. If the CEO of Disney retires, does that mean that the company will close down? No, the demand for Mickey Mouse continues just as the demand for marijuana does. As long as drug laws pump money into the "gang business," there will be gangs, and they will become more sophisticated and organized over time.
Seized Drug Money
Why should the decent people of society continue to subsidize this nonsense? When controlled substances are legalized, over time crime rates and the nature of crime will return to normal. When people inclined to commit crime no longer have the unifying force of drug profits, their ability to organize and persist in the face of law enforcement will decline sharply. At the very least, studies of the market in marijuana should indicate clearly that an amount of money in the BILLIONS is presently available to many groups who have no compulsion against committing a wide range of crimes including very violent crime. See the article in BNET.
The time to start dismantling the illegal drug corporations from within is now! They live and die by the financial subsidy of drug laws. Let us change that for a better future for all!
It's has taken me a long time but I've slowly opened up to the idea of legalizing substances... with the combination of giving people who might turn to illegal activities meaningful options/opportunities for legitimate careers.
ReplyDeleteAnytime that something is suppressed or repressed, it only appears somewhere else but usually in a twisted or unnatural form! Better to "let nature take its course" and educate people about what they are getting into. Anytime something is forbidden, it becomes so much more interesting and cooler to people. Humans - what're ya gonna do?
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