U.S. - Blame city violence on the drug war

[S.J.B.]

Blame city violence on the drug war
Joseph Scalia
The Baltimore Sun
August 22nd, 2015

Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby recently lamented in an op-ed piece about the difficulty of prosecuting crime because witnesses refuse to come forward. Rep Elijah Cummings recently issued an emotional appeal for "blacks lives [to] matter to black people." The city police chief recently announced that 10 federal agents would embed within the department to stem the rising violence.

Baltimore is not unique in its surging crime rate. Politicians, police officials and community leaders around the country get on TV and appear baffled by the "senseless" violence. But the cause of the violence is not a mystery nor is it "senseless." It is the logical and rational outcome of our public policy choices. Violence is the currency in an underground economic system that we as a society have created. It has nothing to do with poverty, race, social status or the availability of guns.

Let's declare the "war on drugs" a failure. A war can't be launched against inanimate objects. The war on drugs is a misnomer, disguising what it really is: a war on people. It's a war launched by the government against taxpayers forced to fund it and citizens, mostly black, forced to endure roadside searches and late night raids reminiscent of totalitarian regimes. (Is it any wonder that citizens distrust an aggressive militarized police?) For decades this artificial war has vilified and demonized young black men for making what, in economic terms, is a completely rational choice given the incentives created by the war on drugs.

The drug business is a big business. The drug business is a business like any other. You need customers, supply chains and logistics to deliver a quality product at competitive prices in an unregulated market. Unlike other businesses, there is no mechanism to resolve business disputes. Violence serves as the only effective mechanism to ensure that market participants adhere to the customs of the trade. Violence is the unwritten code needed to make sure that the goods and money flow efficiently. It prevents "seepage" of either cash or inventory and is an effective tool to expand market share. The murders and shooting aren't "senseless" from an economic point of view.

Read the full story here.

 

['medicine cabinet']

Great article

 

[blowpipe]

Spot on. Few people seem to realize what kind of effect the War on People has had on some parts of our society. People thought that by banning drugs other people who sought them'd stop. Hah! They will just go buy them from the black market, which has been able to flourish because of the War. And a black market is by definition very dangerous, with ethics and moral standards being last on the list of their priorities. And this gigantic flow of money that could have otherwise been used on addiction treatment, education (not only addicts'), actually violent crimes - anything, is flowing to people who will murder for it. Just take a look at the parts of the world where drug trade is dominant, e.g Southern-America countries, Mexico etc. People, and a lot of innocent people I should mention, are dying every day.

Trying to solve a problem creates a bigger problem. Ironic isn't it. Not quite as funny though.