End The War On Drugs - Chapter 11

Law Enforcement and the Militarization of Police

EDITOR’S NOTE: A few years ago, I penned a first draft of a short book, “End The War On Drugs” I offer an updated version, in serial form, here on Substack, for my paid subscribers. I will publish a chapter each week.

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CHAPTER 1: A Catastrophic Failure
CHAPTER 2: A Brief History
CHAPTER 3: A Society Rooted in Individual Liberty
CHAPTER 4: Use vs Abuse
CHAPTER 5: Societal Cost
CHAPTER 6: Use and Addiction
CHAPTER 7: Free To Choose
CHAPTER 8: Prohibitions Create Business Opportunities
CHAPTER 9: Inner City Youths and the Permanent Stigma of Drug Convictions
CHAPTER 10: Prisons and the Corrections Industry

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Imagine if all drugs were legalized in the USA, tomorrow.  Think about how many people would need to find new jobs.  There is the DEA, which would probably have its role reduced to dealing with counterfeiters and interdicting smugglers should whatever tax structure the government establishes create a black market (see: Prohibitions Create Business Opportunities).  There are all the police officers around the country who would no longer be needed to enforce the drug laws. There are countless prosecutors, public defenders, judges and support staff in court systems that would have substantially lightened case loads, bordering perhaps on “nothing to do.” There are all the private sector defense attorneys who specialize in drug defense. There are the FBI agents and staff that operate at the federal level. There are the members of the Coast Guard that work to interdict smuggling. There are the Border Patrol agents who search for drugs in the 48 million cars that cross the US-Mexico border every year. There are the Customs officials tasked with searching for drugs in the eleven million shipping containers that enter the US each year. There are the CIA operators, military personnel, and paramilitary contractors employed in foreign drug interdictions. There are the NSA and other spooks involved in our massive surveillance state.

And more.