EDITORIAL
Albert Einstein’s comments about prohibition in America: The prestige of the American government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by their prohibition laws. For, nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in America is closely connected with this. There is also another way in which prohibition, in my opinion, has led to the enfeeblement of America. The public houses (taverns & bistros) are places which give people a chance to exchange views and ideas on public affairs. As far as I can see, because of prohibition, Americans have less chance of doing this, the result being that the press and media which is mostly controlled by definite interests, has an excessive influence over public opinion.
An ever growing number of knowledgeable people on both sides of the political isle at all levels of government are beginning to question why the “Land of the Free” has more people incarcerated than much larger Communist governments?
During President Nixon’s administration this same question was asked, so a presidential panel was assembled. This panel of experts bypassed all the bureaucrats, between them and the, went directly to prison inmates and interviewed them and were shocked to learn that 55 percent were incarcerated for offenses committed by alcoholics and drug addicts.
Attorney General John Mitchell said to President Nixon, “Maybe we should take a treatment approach instead of a punitive one. We could empty our prisons of more than half our inmates if we simply changed the law and ended drug prohibition!”
President Nixon instead, fired the commission and created the Drug Enforcement Agency! More laws and more government regulation was his solution and that was indeed more popular with conservative voters.
After President Regan was elected, he further compounded the problem by his un-do-able fantasy, “Just Say No to Drugs,” that was followed by a Bush, Clinton and more Bush administrations who all increased the DEA’s ballooning budget and adopted an ever-more legalistic zero tolerance policy and to no avail!
This insanity continues today and currently 89 percent of the people in our prison system are there because of untreated alcoholism, drug addiction and wrong-headed prohibition laws which have done absolutely nothing to keep drugs from American consumers. What fool among us does not know that it’s easier today than ever to obtain illegal drugs? The ugly truth of this matter remains obscure to many voters, but the percentage of alcoholics and drug addicts does not change whether or not they are legal or illegal! This humble truth has been proven time and again by European governments who’ve already decriminalized drugs, and the simple truth about prohibition is that it does not work. The evil prohibition perpetuation is greater than the one they’re trying to stop; this truth can also be found in the headlines of our 1929 newspapers in the Allen County Library. Headlines from that era read: Three murders a day! Kids selling! Police and politicians turn a blind eye, etc.
Todays prohibitionists are demanding yet more prohibition against tobacco and it won’t end there because next year they will want prohibition against something else, while their real objective remains; absolute control over human peccadillo’s, personal morality and freedom of choice.
For too long, wrong-headed lawmakers in both political parties have shouted down the voice of reason. The so-called moral majority is neither moral nor are they a majority yet they clamor to have their way? “Play it Again Sam!”
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