Drugs' Pernicious Reach

Allen Stanford did not seem to be as elusive as some on the lamb have been. He was served civil papers in Virginia and criminal indictment may be coming. ABC news reported that Stanford's enterprise may have ties to the Gulf drug cartel which the network reported was based in Mexico and is the world's most violent. I can not vouch for the reliability of any ABC reportage, but it is not remarkable that a narcotic trafficking organization could be involved in other impropriety. Mexico is currently ablaze with drug violence and officials of Mexican government have been presented with the choice of taking cartel money not to interfere in drug operations and live a rich life or decline bribes, attempt to enforce laws, and quite possibly face murder for acting vigilantly and in good faith. This is a stark equation, but one that has left parts of our southern neighbor in anarchy. Across the globe, Afghanistan faces a similar circumstance with the opium trade undermining government control and financing the Taliban and al-Qeada terrorists. One area where I demur from many conservatives is on narcotic laws. I am in complete accord with the late conservative icon William F. Buckley and former liberal Democrat mayor of Baltimore Kurt Schmoke that drugs should be legalized. Prohibitions simply drive up the profit motive to import or synthesize illegal narcotics. Just as alcohol became the impetus for the growth of organized crime in America when its legal consumption was banned, so too have laws making drugs illegal incentivized organized crime, the growth of mafias and the corruption of governments all over the world. Certainly people act the fool under the influence of certain drugs, but people behave irresponsibly under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs that are legal and readily available. If drugs are made legal such as marijuana and even heroin, their price would plummet-they are no more difficult to grow than a carrot and governments would not be compromised by the lure of bribes or the threat of death if a joint cost no more than a beer, but then if nothing was illegal, then bribes and kickbacks would dry up and politicians will never let that happen.