SHOW ME THE MONEY

Let’s recap the last three days. Reducing corruption and special interest influence in our state and federal governments is a three-step process:

Step 1. Publicly funded elections.
Step 2. A ban on lobbying.
Step 3. Strict term limits. And . . .

Finally, where is the money going to come from for this public funding? Fortunately, the federal government has $69 billion to spare, which should be more than enough to fund elections, especially since not everyone will run at the same time. Plus, it is a renewable source of income.

The time has come for America to grow up. Every year, for the past forty years or so, your government has spent an average of $69 billion in a desperate attempt to prevent drug use. It has been an utter failure and a total waste of public funds. Clearly, you can’t stop people from doing what they want to do. However, if we choose to face reality and legalize drugs, the following are stone cold guaranteed to happen:

1. An immediate and annual budget savings of $69 billion, plus, hundreds of millions more saved by not having to maintain non-violent drug offenders in prison.
2. An immediate loss to international drug cartels of hundreds of billions of dollars – that billions with a B.
3. An immediate gain of hundreds of millions in tax revenue from legally marketed drugs. I’m sure MERCK would take the contract.
4. An immediate gain to the nation’s police departments of hundreds of thousands of man-hours for use in fighting crimes with actual victims.
5. An eventual boost in confidence for government in general and law enforcement in particular. When the police are incapable of enforcing a law, they are seen as weak and ineffective. Plus, the open use of drugs, in spite of their illegality, undermines public confidence in the whole structure of governmental.
6. A possible reduction in actual drug use by young people. This one’s a little iffy, I admit, but it strikes me that part of the attraction of drugs is its very illegality. Using them makes you part of a special club: you carry them in your pocket, you’re fooling the police (the grown-ups), you wink at others whose pockets are also filled. You know, it’s a secret society – it’s fun. Without that illegality, drugs would just be what they are, a risky, expensive, and poor choice.

In truth, drug use isn’t really a problem. Mind and mood altering substances have been in use since the very beginning of civilization. The problem is drug abuse, and that isn’t really a crime, it’s an affliction. So why don’t we act like grown-ups and treat drug use as a medical phenomenon, not a criminal problem. As for the drug users themselves, as far as I’m concerned, help the ones you can, love the ones you can’t. That’s about all we can do.

Please feel free to copy this three-step program and send it to your congressman. If the people won’t do it, it won’t get done.

One foot on either side.

1 XCZR