REAL NEWS - DRUG WAR VERY PROFITABLE <[email protected]> (Common sense, politically incorrect newsletter to 14,872 subscribers) DRUG WAR VERY PROFITABLE FOR ILLEGAL SELLERS AND CORRUPTIBLE ENFORCERS. Why Cops Love the Drug War -------------------------- By Jacob G. Hornberger, Internet Talk Show Host March 2, 2011 After more than 30 years of death, destruction, and failure, the two primary advocates of the war on drugs are public officials and drug lords. The reason is obvious: these two groups are the biggest beneficiaries of the drug war. The drug lords make money off the war -- big money. And government officials make money off the war -- big money. One of the major ways that government officials make money off the drug war is through bribes. Government inspectors at international crossing points are bribed to look the other way when a drug shipment is coming across the border. Drug agents are bribed to look the other way with respect to drug distribution. Prosecutors and judges are bribed in return for reduced sentences. No doubt about it: The drug war is one big, rotten, corrupting government program, one with absolutely no redeeming benefits whatsoever. It would be difficult to find a better example of a domestic government program that produces more death, damage, corruption, and infringements on privacy and liberty. Another way that government officials make money off the drug war is a legal one -- through the asset-forfeiture laws. These are laws enacted by public officials that enable the cops to seize assets supposedly involved in a drug-law violation and keep the assets for themselves. The program has turned into one big moneymaker for the cops. There are innumerable horror stories of how the cops have used the drug war to steal -- I mean, seize -- people's property and convert the property to the cops' own use. This past Monday's issue of the Boston Herald relates a recent horror story about asset-forfeiture abuse. The article stated that Logan International Airport cops spent $300,000 for a fleet of brand new SUVs, along with couches and other furniture and flat-screen TVs. To pay for the items, they used the drug-war money they had seized from people. One of the downsides, from the standpoint of representative government, is that the drug-war seizures help police departments to become self-funding fiefdoms and, therefore, not so dependent on the city councils that budget their money. In 2009 Troop F, the unit that bought those SUVs and other items, seized $1.5 million, up from $500,000 in 2009. No doubt the cops are going to make certain that that number continues to go up. State police spokesman David Procopio expressed his belief that the seized money should be left in the hands of Troop F because they're the ones who seized it. By the way, the federal government gets to keep 20 percent of the loot, without even lifting a finger. Or here's another example, taken from Radley Balko's website "The Agitator" and from this article on Opposingviews.com. Michigan cops went after a guy based on information that he had one stem of marijuana in his house. What was the cops' motive in busting him? Well, one possibility was that they were simply concerned about the man's health and well-being and wanted to prevent him from smoking that one stem of marijuana. Another possibility, however, is that they were interested in the man's very expensive musical equipment, DVDs, computers, and other electronics. The cops seized it all. Unbeknownst to them, however, there was an open mic that recorded their excitement over all the goodies they were seizing. The recording is posted on Balko's site. I ask you: What are the chances that any of these cops, state or federal, would ever call for an end to what is quite possibly the most deadly, destructive, corrupt, and failed government program in history? The chances are nil. The drug war is a cash cow for public officials, not only in terms of bribes but also asset seizures. It has been for decades. They're not about to give it up, at least not without a fierce fight. Of course, public officials would never admit that the reason they fight for the continuation of the drug war is out of self-interest. They have to continue playing the game, piously claiming that the only reason they favor the continuation of the drug war is so that they can finally, once and for all after several decades, shut down the drug lords. What the cops don't realize (or maybe some of them do) is that the only way to shut down the drug lords, immediately, is to end the drug war by legalizing drugs. Continuing to wage the drug war only ensures that the drug lords will continue supplying drugs and that the cops will continue making busts, and that both groups will continue making beaucoup bucks off the war, which is really what the drug war is all about. --Jacob Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOW WOULD YOU CONTROL THE DRUG FIASCO? So, what can we do about illegal drug sellers and corrupt enforcers? Back in the 1930's, we heard about the opium dens in China and that drug addiction was like "riding the dragon" where when once hooked you couldn't get off. We heard that illegal drug dealers trying to snare new users were the world's most vicious criminals. We feared having anything to do with drugs, and we weren't even aware drugs might be available locally except for people in pain. Years 1920 to 1933 during "Alcohol Prohibition", huge fortunes were made as law enforcers were bribed and rival bootleggers killed each other. Willing drinkers joked that they were "striking a blow for liberty" when imbibing illegal alcohol. The present drug trade now has reached that same disrespectable acceptability, as so many acquaintances ask if we have any drugs to share with them. Ending "Prohibition" also ended bribing government officials, deadly gang violence, and brought in added alcohol tax money. Some counties continued to ban alcohol, much to the delight of local bootleggers, who donated large sums of money to campaign for continuing banning legal alcohol. Much as I hate to say it, it seems that the only way to take the profit out of our drug trade and to save the Mexican government from their drug lord captivity is to legalize and control drugs like we did with alcohol. --REAL NEWS Editor [email protected] --------------------------------------------------------- --REAL NEWS Editor [email protected] Contact Your Govt http://www.usa.gov/Contact.shtml Is the Constitution the Supreme Law of the Land or not? I GUESS THE SCOTUS HAS ANWERED THAT QUESTION Patriot Freedom http://www.patriotfreedom.org/battlefield.php If a link above does not work, cut-and-paste to your browser. Please be aware that Barack Hussein Obama’s grandfather was a highly respected witch doctor with the Luo tribe. His white grandmother was VP at the Bank of Hawaii and she worked with and for Peter Geithner on other projects, Peter is the father of Timothy Geithner, Obama's choice of Treasurer of the US. We the People http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVAhr4hZDJE This email is archived at http://groups.google.com/group/richsrants?hl=en I'M MAD, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bprelutsky/2009/07/05/im-mad-as-hell/ . -- To join RichsRants, send email to: [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/richsrants?hl=en
