What Convinced Me to End Marijuana Prohibition?

There is a more complex answer that addresses this question but I’ll delve into that deeper in another post, but I would like to reveal an important turning point in my journey to end prohibition. The video that I have included in this post was a major junction in my ideological development. The video takes a look at an organization known as L.E.A.P. (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition). This organization is made of active and retired law enforcement members who have fought on the front lines of the war on drugs only to discover that it is a loosing battle. Now they travel to schools and hold seminars that promote ending prohibition based on their personal experiences. I highly recommend listening to what these people have to say since they understand the drug war from a viewpoint many of us do not possess. What I hope this video highlights for you is that people who support ending prohibition come from many different backgrounds and differ greatly from the common stereotypical perception of an anti-prohibitionist (the common degenerate pothead). I felt that it was the right time to showcase this video since my last post addressed the topic of our law enforcement in relation to the drug war. Now you get to experience this same topic through the eyes of these very same individuals. Like I mentioned before this was a video that really resonated with me and contributed a great deal toward my activist ambitions. Enjoy the video and feel free to leave comments on it.        

The ATF's Fast and Furious Blunder

If we needed any more evidence that the war on drugs is a losing war, the ATF has alleviated any doubt we might have had resting in the back of our minds. If you are unfamiliar with what took place just Google “ATF fast and furious” and I challenge you not to become absolutely disgusted.  Where do I start with this one? Should I begin with how we are fighting the cartels the wrong way, treating them more like a gang when they behave more like a small army? Or should it be that we are targeting their weapons instead of their money or product which they use to fund the purchase these arms? Anyway you look at it you can’t deny that if we keep fighting the war on drugs the same way we have been for the past thirty years, then we aren’t going to make any progress. It’s time for a new strategy, one that gives more rights to the citizens of the United States while more effectively combats the cartels.

                This type of operation is not uncommon for the ATF or any other government or local law enforcement agency. There are many examples of how this strategy has worked to combat gangs in America. There is just one problem when using this strategy to combat the cartels. The cartels are not gangs they are small armies. Make no mistake about it these cartels behave more like an oppressive army than a gang. Just think about it for a minute, what gang do you know of carries out professional hits on government officials? What gang is responsible for so many mass graves like the ones found in Mexico? What gang uses grenades and other explosives in military style ambushes? This is unlike any gang in America which law enforcement is so used to combating. How can we expect our law enforcement to fight something that they have never seen the likes of before? The truth of the matter is we can’t, so we need to find a different and more effective way to address this problem.

We need to change our strategy when it comes to fighting the Mexican cartels. One of the simplest things we can do is to get marijuana legal. If marijuana was completely taken away from the cartels then that would have a significant impact on their operations. All at once they would have less money to work with and would become weaker than any gun or drug bust could ever leave them. Instead of focusing on guns we would focus on taking away their money. Money that, let’s face it, they can use to buy guns anywhere. We would focus on the root of the problem instead of the surface which is the violence that we are so used to seeing on the news. The cartels cannot function without money like any other organization so let’s hit them where it hurts most.

 We could fight the cartels’ gun trade forever if we wanted to. As long as they continue to sell drugs and make money they will always be able to buy more guns. No gun bust however big will ever be enough to effectively end the cartels’ operations, but if we go after their product and take it away from them then we have a chance. There is no simpler or more effective way to accomplish this than to decriminalize marijuana.       

Global Leaders Want Drugs Decriminalized

Our cause is gaining more and more momentum! World leaders are coming together to decriminalize drugs and their arguments are the same as the ones I have been making on this blog for weeks now. Here is the article link for the full story.
Global Leaders Want Drugs Decriminalized

In this article the organization LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) is mentioned. This is an organization made up of retired and current law enforcement officials who are dedicated to decriminalizing drugs. I will have more information about this group in a later post but I encourage you to look them up for yourself.