REPEAL DRUG PROHIBITION

A Sept. 22 Sun Herald article headlined "Crime keeps black men off voter
rolls" pointed out that 29 percent of Mississippi's African-American men are
forbidden to vote because they've been convicted of a felony.

Just as with alcohol prohibition in the 1920s, the overwhelming majority of
these felonies are committed as a result of rival drug gangs fighting over
turf or settling scores with those who have cheated them.

Although current studies and reports about "drug crime" tend to cast a bad
light on poor black men, we should remember that it was white men who
engaged in precisely the same behavior during alcohol prohibition. (The fact
that all the alcohol-gang violence occurred in white neighborhoods was, I
believe, the primary reason behind repeal of prohibition.)

Regardless of our race, we are humans, not sheep. Not every citizen is
inclined to obey laws forbidding peaceful, honest, private behavior.
Consequently, when governments try to eliminate such behavior, many people
do it anyway; only now the activity is outside all legal constraints so the
only means of settling disputes is with violence.

Frankly, to an impoverished young man living in the housing projects,
drug-dealing is a smart decision. You can make a lot of money quickly, and
all you're doing is providing a product that people want. Where's the harm
in that? Remember, the majority of crime associated with drugs is the result
of drug prohibition.

Another grim statistic for poor African-American communities comes from a
report released by the public interest group "Human Rights Watch." The
report states: "Nationwide, blacks comprise 62 percent of drug offenders
admitted to state prison. In seven states, blacks constitute between 80 and
90 percent of all people sent to prison on drug charges."

According to FBI data, and contrary to politicians' statements, the
overwhelming number of drug incarcerations today are the result of simple
possession of drugs.

Interestingly, when I was in high school in the early '70s, we didn't have a
"drug problem." We didn't have gang violence. We didn't even have gangs.

There were, however, a few kids in my high school who did smoke marijuana.
Just a small group.

And everyone knew they were doing it. In fact, they made no effort to hide
it. Two kids in the class behind me even campaigned for student council
president and vice-president with the slogan "Two heads are better than
none."

Now, these kids didn't have their lives ruined by being arrested and thrown
in jail. They weren't taken from their parents and placed in the foster care
nightmare. Their parents weren't put in prison.

And in spite of their drug use these kids were passing all their classes,
and eventually graduated.

More importantly, although a couple of the kids did sell drugs, they only
sold to those friends who were already inclined to smoke dope. And they only
sold enough to pay for their own habits.

Then the 1980s came along, and our Democratic Congress and Republican
president decided that escalating the drug war would be a good political
cause which would generate valuable points with the American electorate.

What happened? The price of drugs went through the roof and with it, the
profits associated with drug dealing.

Consequently, whereas before we primarily had kids dealing drugs simply to
support their own habits, now we have people dealing drugs as a business
venture.

And what do business people spend most of the time doing? Drumming up
business! Increasing their customer base! Attracting more people to their
product!

Is it any wonder that drug use has increased fivefold since the drug war was
started?

Drug prohibition is the driving force behind the terrible rise in drug use.
It is also responsible for creating the business opportunities for which
many poor youths are being arrested and imprisoned, along with the violence
associated with drug disputes.

As I mentioned earlier, everything that is happening today with drug
prohibition happened in the 1920s with alcohol prohibition; only this time
it is happening in poor inner-city black communities. Such communities are
already reeling from the impact of government welfare. They can ill-afford
yet another government "solution."

We did not "reform" alcohol prohibition; we ended it. We should do no less
with drug prohibition.