Prohibition Does Not Work--A Plea From a Non-User

Let me say at the very outset that I have never used illegal drugs in my entire life. I say this because there are those who would like to think that my endorsement of Libertarian candidates in general and Alabama Gubernatorial candidate Loretta Nall in particular is some sort of indication that I must be a pot-smoking dope-head.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

My Baptist upbringing and deep sense of Christian values have always prevented me from going down that path. However, I am also the first to say that prohibition does not work. History proves the point.

Our nation's experiment with Prohibition early in the 20th century launched one of the biggest and messiest crime sprees in our history. Alcohol went black market. Speak-easies were on practically every street corner, with law enforcement officials on the take to prevent any legal hassles. Prohibition did nothing but encourage the very behavior it sought to squelch and catapulted crime to epic proportions in the process.

Apparently we have not learned our lesson. The 'war on drugs' is an abject failure. The crime that it produces is not worth the money and effort to keep this senseless prohibition going. The decriminalization of non-violent drug offenders is a step in the right direction to correcting this terribly misguided program.

It is time we learned our lesson. Prohibition was repealed. Our nation was much better off for it. It is now time to do the same thing with drugs.