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Editorial:
Why
I'm
Still
an
Optimist
10/14/05
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/407/optimism.shtml
David Borden, Executive
Director, [email protected]
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David
Borden
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On the surface, at least,
there doesn't appear to be a lot of reason to be optimistic for the prospects
of ending drug prohibition. Harsh drug laws stay on the books, new
ones get added, "legalizer" is in some circles considered a term of derision.
The social and political currents are running against us, no doubt.
Only some elderly remember the days of Alcohol Prohibition, and only some
of them make the connection to what is going on today with illegal drugs.
On the surface, at least, the campaign doesn't seem to be going well.
And despite much that has gone well in certain areas (medical marijuana,
for example), on the surface that is still a fair assessment.
But in any social change
effort, there is a lot of work that has to be done, largely before reaching
the public's radar screen, to get things to a point where change currents
are even noticeable much less dominant. And in my opinion, that work
being done at that level is going well. We are making slow but discernible
progress in the court of public opinion. If the currents are against
us, the undercurrents run in our direction. Things are getting ready
to change -- I don't know when or how long it will take them to be ready,
but I strongly believe that they will and that things will then more visibly
move in the right direction.
One of the reasons that 12
years into this I am still an optimist, is that while most people have
heard our side get ridiculed, few have actually yet heard what we have
to say. The case against prohibition -- or for some form of legalization,
depending on how you prefer to express it -- is an overwhelming one.
As I wrote in an August 2003 open letter to DC chief judge Rufus G. King
(son of our movement's late great Rufus King):
Prohibition creates a lucrative
black market that soaks our inner cities in violence and disorder, and
lures young people into lives of crime. Laws criminalizing syringe
possession, and the overall milieu of underground drug use and sales, encourage
needle sharing and increase the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C. Our
drug war in the Andes fuels a continuing civil war in Colombia, with prohibition-generated
illicit drug profits enabling its escalation. Thousands of Americans
die from drug overdoses or poisonings by adulterants every year, most of
their deaths preventable through the quality-controlled market that would
exist if drugs were legal. Physicians' justifiable fear of running
afoul of law enforcers causes large numbers of Americans to go un- or under-treated
for intractable chronic pain. And frustration over the failure of
the drug war, together with the lack of dialogue on prohibition, distorts
the policymaking process, leading to ever more intrusive governmental interventions
and ever greater dilution of the core American values of freedom, privacy
and fairness.
In other words, it's a pretty
bad scene. And prohibition created it. While a correct understanding
of the consequences of drug prohibition can be counterintuitive to some
extent, ultimately people can understand this, if they are given the chance.
So the first step is to give them that chance. Retired lawman Howard
Wooldridge, who recently completed a cross-country horse ride sporting
his "Cops Say Legalize Drugs" t-shirts (see next article), reported something
that I would have expected to and often do hear: "I'm not sure I
agree with you, but you make some sense," was the typical reaction to his
message. And Howard also reports observing a "sea change" in this
regard from when he started doing this six years ago. Slowly, gradually,
we are making our point. Give it a little more time, and more of
those people who are "not sure" now will make up their minds -- I predict
that within another six years opinion polls will reflect this. Those
first conversations that people have, with Howard, with DRCNet readers,
from an op-ed, however it happens, serve the purpose of letting them know
that this is an actual issue with a well-reasoned and respectable other
side. And the rest is history in the making.
I will continue to be optimistic
so long as there are people out there to educate and advocates out there
doing the educating. Though the fruits of our labors may not be clearly
seen for some time, nevertheless this is an effective time to do work in
this issue. The Berlin Wall of ideas protecting drug prohibition
is doomed to fall. Can you see the chinks appearing in it?
It's too late to repair them -- the word is getting out.
-- END --
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Issue #407
-- 10/14/05
Editorial:
Why
I'm
Still
an
Optimist
|
Feature:
Former
Lawman's
Coast
to
Coast
Horse
Ride
to
Legalize
Drugs
Concludes
at
Statue
of
Liberty
|
Feature:
Loretta
Nall
Enters
Alabama
Governor's
Race
|
DRCNet
Book
Review:
"Busted:
Drug
War
Survival
Skills
From
the
Buy
to
the
Bust
to
Begging
for
Mercy"
|
Weekly:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
|
Central
Asia:
Afghan
President
Publicly
Links
Drug
Trafficking,
Terrorism
|
Medical
Marijuana:
Canadians
Deport
Activist/Patient
Steve
Tuck,
Now
Imprisoned
Without
Medical
Care
by
US
Authorities
|
Marijuana:
Pot
an
Issue
in
Cincinnati
Mayoral
Race
|
Employment:
FBI
May
Revise
Hiring
Rules
for
Former
Marijuana
and
Other
Drug
Users
|
Middle
East:
US
Invasion,
Continuing
Insurgency
Lead
to
Increasing
Drug
Use
in
Iraq
|
Europe:
Study
Calls
Into
Question
France's
Obsession
with
"Drugged
Driving"
|
Europe:
Most
Marijuana
in
United
Kingdom
Now
Home-Grown
By
Socially
Conscious
Users
|
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
|
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
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