113 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
113 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
The Libertarian Party asks:
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SHOULD WE RE-LEGALIZE DRUGS?
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* Should We Re-Legalize Drugs?
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Libertarians, like most Americans, demand to be safe at home and on
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the streets. Libertarians would like all Americans to be healthy and
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free of drug dependence. But drug laws don't help, they make things
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worse.
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The professional politicians scramble to make names for themselves
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as tough anti-drug warriors, while the experts agree that the "war on
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drugs" has been lost, and could never be won. The tragic victims of
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that war are your personal liberty and its companion, responsibility.
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It's time to consider the re-legalization of drugs.
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* The Lessons of Prohibition
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In the 1920's, alcohol was made illegal by Prohibition. The result:
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Organized Crime. Criminals jumped at the chance to supply the demand
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for liquor. The streets became battlegrounds. The criminals bought off
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law enforcement and judges. Adulterated booze blinded and killed
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people. Civil rights were trampled in the hopeless attempt to keep
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people from drinking.
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When the American people saw what Prohibition was doing to them,
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they supported its repeal. When they succeeded, most states legalized
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liquor and the criminal gangs were out of the liquor business.
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Today's war on drugs is a re-run of Prohibition. Approximately 40
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million Americans are occasional, peaceful users of some illegal drug
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who are no threat to anyone. They are not going to stop. The laws
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don't, and can't, stop drug use.
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* Organized Crime Profits
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Whenever there is a great demand for a product and government makes
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it illegal, a black market always appears to supply the demand. The
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price of the product rises dramatically and the opportunity for huge
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profits is obvious. The criminal gangs love the situation, making
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millions. They kill other drug dealers, along with innocent people
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caught in the crossfire, to protect their territory. They corrupt
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police and courts. Pushers sell adulterated dope and experimental
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drugs, causing injury and death. And because drugs are illegal, their
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victims have no recourse.
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* Crime Increases
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Half the cost of law enforcement and prisons is squandered on drug
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related crime. Of all drug users, a relative few are addicts who commit
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crimes daily to supply artificially expensive habits. They are the
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robbers, car thieves and burglars who make our homes and streets
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unsafe.
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* An American Police State
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Civil liberties suffer. We are all "suspects", subject to random
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urine tests, highway check points and spying into our personal
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finances. Your property can be seized without trial, if the police
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merely claim you got it with drug profits. Doing business with cash
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makes you a suspect. America is becoming a police state because of the
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war on drugs.
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* America Can Handle Legal Drugs
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Today's illegal drugs were legal before 1914. Cocaine was even found
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in the original Coca-Cola recipe. Americans had few problems with
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cocaine, opium, heroin or marijuana. Drugs were inexpensive; crime was
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low. Most users handled their drug of choice and lived normal,
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productive lives. Addicts out of control were a tiny minority.
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The first laws prohibiting drugs were racist in origin -- to prevent
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Chinese laborers from using opium and to prevent blacks and Hispanics
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from using cocaine and marijuana. That was unjust and unfair, just as
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it is unjust and unfair to make criminals of peaceful drug users today.
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Some Americans will always use alcohol, tobacco, marijuana or other
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drugs. Most are not addicts, they are social drinkers or occasional
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users. Legal drugs would be inexpensive, so even addicts could support
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their habits with honest work, rather than by crime. Organized crime
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would be deprived of its profits. The police could return to protecting
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us from real criminals; and there would be room enough in existing
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prisons for them.
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* Try Personal Responsibility
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It's time to re-legalize drugs and let people take responsibility
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for themselves. Drug abuse is a tragedy and a sickness. Criminal laws
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only drive the problem underground and put money in the pockets of the
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criminal class. With drugs legal, compassionate people could do more to
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educate and rehabilitate drug users who seek help. Drugs should be
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legal. Individuals have the right to decide for themselves what to put
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in their bodies, so long as they take responsibility for their actions.
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From the Mayor of Baltimore, Kurt Schmoke, to conservative writer
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and TV personality, William F. Buckley, Jr., leading Americans are now
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calling for repeal of America's repressive and ineffective drug laws.
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The Libertarian Party urges you to join in this effort to make our
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streets safer and our liberties more secure.
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800-682-1776 Libertarian Party
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202-543-1988 1528 Pennsylvania Avenue SE
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Washington, DC 20003
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