Originally published February 9 2011
Sec. Clinton admits fraudulent drug war is all about money
by Jonathan Benson, staff writer
(NaturalNews) In what is now being dubbed one of the most incoherent and nonsensical statements to be made by a politician in recent days concerning the "drug war", U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently told Mexican reporters that drugs like marijuana can never be legalized because "there is just too much money in it." Displaying a complete lack of understanding concerning basic economics and simple common sense, Clinton foolishly tried to claim that legalization would benefit criminal drug lords, despite the fact that simple supply and demand proves otherwise.
"You can legalize small amounts for possession, but those who are making so much money selling, they have to be stopped," Clinton said. "They can't be given an even easier road to take, because they will then find it in their interest to addict even more young people."
On the contrary, legalization would actually drive down drug prices, which would in turn be a disincentive to drug lords to continue selling as they currently do. Instead of all the violence and corruption that currently takes place in the "black market" of drug dealing, legal dealers would have little reason to resort to such actions in normal market settings.
"Clinton evidently does not understand that there is so much money to be made by selling illegal drugs precisely because they are illegal," writes Jacob Sullum in an article at Reason.com. "Prohibition not only enables traffickers to earn a 'risk premium' that makes drug prices much higher than they would otherwise be; it delivers this highly lucrative business into the hands of criminals who, having no legal recourse, resolve disputes by spilling blood."
Several pro-legalization groups have also come out against Clinton, calling her statements "ignorant" and "preposterous," noting that if someone like Sarah Palin had said such things, she would have immediately been the laughing stock of the media.
Others say that Clinton's statements were not birthed out of ignorance, but rather are a clear reflection of central government efforts to protect the illegal drug market. A 1998 PBS investigation, for instance, explains how the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) relies on international drug dealing to finance covert operations, which offers insight into the real reasons for the war on drugs (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/show...).
Sources for this story include:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/clinton-l...
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