 [24] Drugs, politics (1:375/48)  TALK.POLITICS.DRUGS 
 Msg  : #2182 [180]                                                             
 From : Libertarian Party Headquarters      1:2613/335      Wed 03 Aug 94 05:24 
 To   : All                                                                     
 Subj : Libertarian Party on Drug Policy                                        

From: lphq@access3.digex.net (Libertarian Party Headquarters)
Organization: LP HQ

The Libertarian Party on "The War on Drugs"
===========================================

[From the LIBERTARIAN PARTY PROGRAM, Adopted by the Libertarian National
Committee, 23 August 1992]

                      VIOLENCE, CRIME AND DRUGS

As violent crime increases, each of us grows concerned.  We should feel
safe and secure, but our government has failed to protect us.

Violent crime continues to increase in this country.  We must devote
more resources to finding and prosecuting people who commit violent
crimes such as murder, rape, assault, and arson.  Unfortunately, we
cannot, because so many resources go to a battle we cannot win -- the
"war on drugs."

Drug dealers, not drug users, commit most violent crimes associated
with drugs.  The "war on drugs" drives up drug prices, which attracts
more people to the drug trade.  When potential profit increases, drug
dealers resort to greater extremes, including violence.  They fight
each other and law enforcement officials to defend their very
profitable turf.  Occasionally they kill innocent bystanders in the
crossfire.  Those few crimes committed by drug users also are a result
of artificially high drug prices.  Desperate drug addicts commit more
and more robberies to keep up with the increasing cost of their habits.

We know from past experience how to solve this problem.  During
Prohibition, when alcohol was banned, violence increased from turf wars
between bootleggers.  When Prohibition ended, so did the violence
related to bootlegging.  The per capita murder rate decreased for nine
consecutive years after the end of Prohibition.

Do we hear about alcohol distributors having a shootout on the street
today?  Of course not.  Why?  Because there is no reason to commit
violent crimes when operating a legal business.  While those addicted
to alcohol certainly suffer, at least they don't have to steal to
support their habit.  People addicted to alcohol don't rob houses
because they can obtain enough money through other means, be it a job
or panhandling.

Earlier this century, drugs were legal in the United States.  If the
importation, sale, and use of drugs were legal again, open competition
would eliminate the extreme profitability of drug dealing.  The
violence of drug dealing would cease because dealers would no longer
have the economic incentive to commit violent crimes.  We can expect
the end of drug prohibition to lead to the same decrease in violent
crime we experienced after the end of alcohol Prohibition.

Illegal drugs are no different than the legal drugs called alcohol and
tobacco.  Some illegal drugs may be harmful to the mind or body, just
like alcohol and tobacco.  Some are addictive, just like alcohol and
tobacco.  If these drugs were made legal, as they once were, the
government would not be encouraging their use, just as the government
does not encourage alcohol or tobacco use, even though they are legal.

Over 500,000 Americans die each year as a result of using alcohol,
tobacco, and other legal and illegal drugs.  Alcohol and tobacco
combined account for almost 95% of the total.  Another 4% come from
overdoses of legal drugs.  Even though millions of Americans use
illegal drugs every year (over 26 million in 1990 according to the
government), these drugs are responsible for only about 1% of these
deaths.  If banning drugs to protect people from themselves makes
sense, it makes more sense to ban alcohol and tobacco.  Yet there is no
call for such a ban, because Prohibition has already failed, as would a
ban on tobacco.  When will the government learn that all attempts at
prohibition will fail in a free society?

The Libertarian Party recognizes that if people in a free society want
a product -- be it whiskey, cigarettes, Valium(R), marijuana, or
cocaine -- they will find a way to get it, whether or not it is legal.
We do not endorse drug use.  We do not encourage drug use.  We do,
however, support relegalization of all drugs.  We realize that
government action in a free country cannot stop drug use.  Legalization
will eliminate drug-related violent crime and will, therefore, help
reduce our crime problem.

The Libertarian Party also recognizes that resources devoted to the
"war on drugs" could better be used to fight other crimes such as
murder, rape, theft, and fraud.  As long as billions of dollars are
spent on a battle we cannot win, we will have inadequate resources to
fight these other battles that we must win.

==============================================================

[From the Libertarian Party 1994 Platform]

THE WAR ON DRUGS

The so-called "War  on Drugs" is a grave threat to individual liberty,
to domestic order  and to peace  in the  world;  furthermore,  it  has
provided a rationale by which the power of the state has been expanded
to restrict greatly  our right to  privacy and to  be  secure  in  our
homes.

We call for  the repeal of  all laws establishing  criminal  or  civil
penalties  for  the   use  of  drugs   and  of  "anti-crime"  measures
restricting individual rights  to be secure in our persons, homes, and
property, or limiting our rights to keep and bear arms.

==================================================================

[From a Libertarian Party Press Release]

LIBERTARIAN PARTY DEFENDS JOYCELYN ELDERS'
CALL TO STUDY DRUG LEGALIZATION

        WASHINGTON DC -The Chairman of the Libertarian Party today applauded a
"courageous" Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders for suggesting that drugs should
be legalized, saying, "This could be the first step towards a major reduction
of crime in America."

        Stephen Dasbach, the head of America's third-largest political party,
said, "Instead of repudiating Elders' comments, the Clinton administration
should thank her for suggesting a sensible way to end the violence caused by
illegal drugs."

        Dasbach said a study on the effects of drug legalization - as
advocated by Elders during her talk at the National Press Club - would be an
excellent first step.

        "But we've already done a study on this - it was called Prohibition,"
he said. "When Prohibition was repealed, machine gun battles between rival
bootlegging gangs vanished. Widespread corruption of policemen and judges
ended. And millions of otherwise decent Americans were no longer forced to
break the law."

        Dasbach said the nation's murder rate declined for nine consecutive
years after the end of Prohibition. "The same thing would happen if drug
prohibition was ended," he said.

        "Alcohol prohibition was a failure. Drug prohibition is a failure. The
sooner Bill Clinton follows the courageous lead of Joycelyn Elders, the sooner
we can move towards a more peaceful, secure America," he said.

        "Elders knows there is powerful evidence proving that crime declines
and that drug use remains level after decriminalization," said Dasbach. "I'm
astonished the Clinton Administration denies this, or refuses to do further
studies. Drug-related crime is a national crisis. How can Clinton refuse to
examine any option that might make the situation better?

        "Elders is joining a long list of intelligent, reputable Americans who
advocate examining drug legalization," noted Dasbach. "Baltimore Mayor Kurt
Schmoke, conservative commentator William F. Buckley, former Secretary of
State George Schultz, and Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman are a few of the
others. This is no longer a radical idea. It's an idea whose time is coming."

        Dasbach said the Libertarian Party does not endorse drug use. "But the
Libertarian Party does support the relegalization of drugs to reduce crime and
to end the ongoing assault on the Bill of Rights that is being caused by the
War on Drugs," he said.

        There are about 100 Libertarians currently in elected and appointed
office around the country, and Libertarian Party candidates won more than 3.7
million votes for state and federal office in 1992. The party platform calls
for free enterprise, free trade, individual liberty, and respect for the Bill
of Rights.



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