DRUG MONEY

I'm writing about Dean Kuipers's interview with Rob Kampia, the
executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project ["3rd Degree, Nov.
11]. I'd like to address Kuipers's last question: "House Speaker
Dennis Hastert said billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros made
his money through drug dealers because he backed some of these
initiatives. Has that hurt funding for you guys at all?"

If you were a drug lord making billions of dollars because of our drug
prohibition laws, what type of people would you financially support?
People and politicians who advocated policies that would put you out
of business? The re-legalization of recreational drugs would do just
that -- put you out of business. The same way the alcohol cartels were
put out of business in 1933 when we re-legalized alcohol. Or would you
support politicians like House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who advocate
the continuation of the status quo of our drug criminalization
policies that are enriching the drug lords?

The notorious gangster, Al Capone, often bragged that he "owned" the
city of Chicago. Obviously, he didn't own all of Chicago. However,
most, if not all of the politicians who ran the city, were on his
payroll. And most of the police force also were on his payroll. Are
the drug lords of today following Al Capone's business model?
Probably. Except that the drug lords of today are very quiet. They are
not "public figures" like the gangsters of the Alcohol Prohibition
era.

So, if the drug lords of today have politicians on their payroll, what
type? My suspicion is that it's the so-called "drug warriors."
Certainly, it's not those who advocate the legalization, regulation
and government control of recreational drugs.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Arizona