Originally published January 12 2014
Retired police captain debunks every myth used by government to perpetuate failed 'War on Drugs'
by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) For more than 40 years, the federal government has been pouring billions of taxpayer dollars into a failed "war on drugs" that has incarcerated millions of non-violent "offenders," destroyed countless families and done absolutely nothing in the process to curb drug use. And retired police captain Peter Christ has been on a vocal crusade to educate the American public about these and other drug war facts, destroying every myth used by the government to continue its mindless prohibition of so-called "controlled substances."
During a recent segment of WGRZ's 2 Sides program, Christ, a co-founder of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), aggressively debunks the profusion of lies still being used by the feds to justify prohibition, including the fallacy that prohibition actually works to keep drugs off the street. Far from it, prohibition merely redirects the drug market into the hands of gangsters and other criminals, generating more crime and problems for society than if drugs were not a law enforcement issue at all.
"Legalization of drugs is not about the drugs, it is about the gangsters and the terrorism that is supported by the illegal marketplace in this country," explains Christ during the segment. "We've been doing this for over 40 years since Nixon kicked it off, and the drugs are more available, purer quality, and cheaper than they've ever been before on the streets of America."
Prohibition shouldn't be a law enforcement issue because it creates victimless 'crimes'
Having himself served in law enforcement for several decades, Christ witnessed the failures of the drug war first hand. Rather than solve society's problem, prohibition has actually created more problems by inventing new "morality" crimes with no victim, which in turn has filled our nation's prisons with otherwise innocent individuals who merely made the personal choice to use a particular prohibited substance.
"When you institute a prohibition like we have with drugs in this country, what you are doing is not protecting people from other people, you are attempting to use law enforcement to protect people from themselves," says Christ. "Protecting you from yourself is a function of family, church, education, and the healthcare system. It never is and never should have been intended to be a law enforcement function."
"Plus, we've destroyed more lives than the drugs have by incarcerating people and hanging felony convictions on them, denying them college educations, and denying them jobs for no good reason."
Prohibition a complete failure; even our prisons are riddled with drugs!
No matter what a person's views are on drug use, there is simply no denying that individuals who want drugs are going to get them, regardless of whether or not these drugs are "legal." With this in mind, Christ makes a very valid argument that society can either regulate these drugs in a controlled environment or inadvertently relegate this job to society's criminal elements -- there is simply no other option.
"If, instead of talking about things like 'drug-free' and 'winning the War on Drugs,' we start saying things like drugs are always going to be in our society, they're always going to be here, which group of people do you want to run the marketplace?" asks Christ.
"Do you want it run by gangsters, thugs, and terrorists who have 13-year-old children selling drugs on street corners? Or do you think that maybe a licensed, regulated marketplace, where we can set age limits and distribution points and controlled purity of drugs, is a better system?"
Christ also points out that America has the largest and most efficient prison system in the world, and yet there is not one drug-free prison in America. Clearly, prohibition is not working.
"Call me crazy, but I'm not a prohibitionist."
Federal government needs to get out of prohibition business and let states regulate themselves
As part of his argument, Christ points to the failures of alcohol prohibition, which led to a steady increase in crime up until the day it was finally abolished in 1933. Because the federal government gave up the fight and handed regulatory power over to the states where it belongs, crime decreased and society was better off than it was when alcohol was "illegal."
"In 1933, when we legalized alcohol, the federal government didn't legalize it and set up a whole regulatory system for the country... they basically got out of the prohibition business and said to the states, 'Regulate it any way you want to,'" adds Christ.
"What we're trying to do is get the federal government out of the prohibition business and let the law enforcement go back to doing what they're supposed to be doing, and that's protecting people from each other."
You can watch Christ's full interview here:
http://youtube.com.
You can also learn more about the work of LEAP in ending drug prohibition by visiting:
http://www.leap.cc.
Sources for this article include:
http://youtube.com
http://www.leap.cc
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