Drug Laws

Who Will the Cartels Support?

This entry was posted in Drug Laws Economics Libertarianism on by

Via Eugene Volokh I see that Jesse Walker at Reason picked up on the absurdity of hastert’s fantasy about George Soros:

In addition to being baseless, Hastert’s accusation doesn’t even make sense. Drug prohibition acts as a price support and a barrier to entry; it helps the cartels maintain their market position. They’re about as likely to fund a legalization campaign as they are to give Denny Hastert an all-expenses-paid vacation in Bermuda or — as long as we’re throwing around groundless insinuations — a free sex tour in Thailand.
Well, on this latter point Jesse misses the mark. The cartels are quite likely to include these types of gifts in their funding, direct or otherwise, of those congress critters who support their market position, i.e., who support ongoing drug prohibition.
Update (9/3): I see that Mark Kleiman picked up on this thought from one of his readers.

Drug War Result

This entry was posted in Capitalism Domestic Terrorism Drug Laws Economics Law Enforcement Libertarianism US Foreign Policy War on Terrorism on by

Science and the market are hard at work in the drug war:

DRUG traffickers have created a new strain of coca plant that yields up to four times more cocaine than existing plants and promises to revolutionise Colombia�s drugs industry.
Why was it worthwhile to traffickers to spend �60,000,000 on this effort:
Such an investment by drugs traffickers is small compared to the earnings from what is the most lucrative business on earth. Traffickers can produce a kilogram of cocaine for less than �1,500. That kilogram will sell in Miami for �14,000, in London for �34,000 and in Tokyo would bring �50,000.
We can all thank the articial pricing created by ongoing domestic and international terrorist activities conducted by US and foreign governments for what promises to be a substantial improvement in both quality and quantity of cocaine on the market.
Via Jacob Sollum at Hit & Run.
NB: At the moment �1 equals $1.79

If They Want You….

This entry was posted in Constitution Domestic Terrorism Drug Laws Federal Government Federalism Law Law Enforcement Libertarianism US History on by

They can probabably get you!
The US Federal Government at work.
With nearly 4000 federal criminal statutes on the books the chance of you knowing when and what law you broke is probably nil.
The constitution called out three federal criminal offenses: treason, piracy and counterfeiting. As a glossy overgeneralization I suggest that any additional ones are inappropriate and relate to things that should be beyond the business of federal busybodies.
Via Freespace.

Protecting the People

This entry was posted in Domestic Terrorism Drug Laws Law Enforcement Libertarianism on by

Here is yet another example of why we should kick all the drug warriors off the dole and send them out to get real jobs:
hibiscus.jpg
Landscape contractor Blair Davis was in his northwest Harris County home around 2 p.m. Tuesday when there was a knock at his door.
Davis said he hadn’t even gotten his hand on the doorknob when it flew open and he was looking at the barrel of a pistol.
Behind the gun were about 10 members of the Harris County Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force, who burst into the home, guns drawn, and began shouting at him to get down on the floor.
There on the floor, Davis said, it took a while to figure out that what had caused the swarm of lawmen to descend upon him was the hibiscus in his front yard.
Let’s put an end to domestic terrorism now!
Via Zombyboy and Jeff Trigg.
Photo: Meg Loucks/ Houston Chronicle

Spend, Spend, Spend

This entry was posted in Constitution Drug Laws Federal Government Government on by

Some will say big deal others will say w can do no wrong:

The White House will project soon that this year’s federal deficit will exceed $420 billion, congressional aides said, a record figure certain to ignite partisan warfare over President Bush’s handling of the economy.
The annual summertime analysis is expected out this Friday, said several congressional aides speaking on condition of anonymity Tuesday. That would be well after the frequently ignored legal deadline of July 15.
Showing an exemplary respect for the law of the land:
White House budget office spokesman Chad Kolton said the report will be issued when it is ready, and offered no date.
I wonder how this would work on the street:
Drug War Jackboot: You are under arrest for growing and possession of marijuana!
Drug War Victem and Cancer Patient: But my doctor gave me a prescription.
Drug War Jackboot: Tough!
Drug War Judge: Twenty years! You must obey the law.
Sure, there are a lot of laws that should be ignored. However, if you are the Whitehouse and the law applies to you then you really should set a good example.