Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 13:27:17 -0500 From: freematt@coil.com (Matthew Gaylor) Subject: US Federal Judge John L. Kane Attacks the Drug War To: freematt@coil.com (Matthew Gaylor)
FEDERAL JUDGE ATTACKS THE DRUG WAR
Prohibition, which lasted from January 1920 to December 1933, is the classic case of the Law of Unintended Consequences. The ensuing gang wars and government corruption surprised most Prohibitionists, but enough of them came to see that Prohibition had failed miserably and supported its repeal.
Like Prohibition, the side effects of the War on Drugs are legion. No wonder, then, that a growing number of public figures express doubt that the Drug War can be "won," noted federal judge John L. Kane, in a recent speech before the Western Governors' Association.
Based on the work of Independent Institute scholars Bruce Benson and David Rasmussen, Judge Kane cited the following as evidence of the failure of the Drug War:
* About 1.3% of the population is addicted to cocaine -- the same percentage as in 1979, a few years before the Drug War, and the same percentage as in 1914, when cocaine was sold legally in grocery stores.
* When law enforcement focuses on milder drugs, like marijuana, users often switch to harder drugs. Methamphetamine use increased markedly during 1985-86 after crop destruction efforts slashed the marijuana supply in Hawaii.
* Interdiction increases the production and consumption of drugs. A House Judiciary Subcommittee reported that the massive effort to destroy the Medellin Cartel resulted in an increase of cocaine transshipment points from 11 to 25 and an expansion of cocaine processing to as many as 13 more countries.
"In order to deal successfully with drug abuse," said Kane, "this nation must eliminate the black market and permit a regulated one. We must permit the several states to resume their role as laboratories of democracy in which policies and programs suitable to their individual needs and conditions can be implemented.... Most importantly, we must confront drug abuse as a threat to health treatable through science rather than superstition and hysteria."
For a transcript of Judge John L. Kane's talk, "The War on Drugs: An Impossible Dream," see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-2-3.html.
For Bruce Benson and David Rasmussen's "The American Drug War: Anatomy of a Futile and Costly Police Action," see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-2-4.html.
For Benson and Rasmussen's "Predatory Public Finance and the Origins of the War on Drugs, 1984-1989" (THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW, Fall 1996), see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-2-5.html.
For a summary of Benson and Rasmussen's study ILLICIT DRUGS AND CRIME (The Independent Institute, 1996), see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-2-6.html.
For Matt Thorton's review of Benson and Rasmussen's path-breaking book, THE ECONOMIC ANATOMY OF A DRUG WAR (THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW, Fall 1996), see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-2-7.html.
For Paula Baker's insightful review of AMERICAN WOMEN AND THE REPEAL OF PROHIBITION, by Kenneth Rose (THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW, Fall 1998), see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-2-8.html.
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