The GOP Candidates Punt On the Failed War On Drugs
(NOTE: an abridged version of this blog will appear in print as a "paid letter" in a future edition of the Southeast Missourian. I have posted it here for public discussion purposes)
I have been following the recent scuttlebutt between the incumbent and her GOP rival Bob Parker's supposed support for an end to the failed war on drugs with a heavy dose of loathing and amusement.
The Libertarian Party has consistently denounced the failed war on drugs on constitutional, moral, and economic grounds for 41 years. Here are a few facts...
* 500,000+ people currently incarcerated on drug related charges
* 70% of the prison population is minorities
* Illegal drug use rates in the US have remained flat since the 1980's
* 50,000 people in Mexico killed by drug cartel violence since 2006
* Legalizing drugs would inject $76.8 billion/year into the U.S. economy
As a Libertarian and member of Show-Me Cannabis Regulation, I have been involved in numerous drug war repeal efforts for many years. I recognize a fellow sympathizer on this matter. No disrespect to Bob Parker, but he does NOT support the legalization or decriminalization of any illegal drugs at any level. This suggestion by Jo Ann Emerson is laughable. If Bob Parker shared my opposition to the failed war on drugs, I would suspend my own campaign and endorse him.
Public opinion towards the failed war on drugs is changing. A majority of Americans now support legalizing marijuana for recreational use. The number of Americans supporting a full end to the failed war on drugs is 40% and growing. Even GOP conservative darling governor Chris Christie recently called the war on drugs "well intentioned", but a "failure" in a speech at the Brookings Institute, and has signed a law to mandate drug treatment rather than jail time for nonviolent drug offenders. Both of the GOP candidates' for US Representative (MO-8) opinion on the failed war on drugs are out of touch, archaic, and unreflective of a free society.
I welcome any adult discussion regarding the failed war on drugs. The editors of the Southeast Missourian chose not to contact me on an issue on which I am educated, am passionate about, and is a cornerstone of my campaign. Instead they saw fit to diminish the libertarian movement and the significance of an issue that has had a negative effect on our society, and debase it to a juvenile diatribe worthy of supermarket checkout lane tabloids.
I repeat: BOB PARKER DOES NOT SUPPORT AN END TO THE FAILED WAR ON DRUGS!
Obviously the incumbent regards this important issue as cheap political fodder to scare and dupe voters into electing her to a ninth term.
Links of interest:
http://www.semissourian.com/story/1872737.html
http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Libertarian_Party_Drugs.htm
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/310104/drug-war-recedes-rich-lowry
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard159.html
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Drug_Usage
http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/finding_direction-f...
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2009/nov/19/can-our-shameful-prisons-be...
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