Watched all three nights of the new Ken Burns documentary, “Prohibition” on PBS this week. As with all of his previous efforts, this was very well done and extremely enjoyable…really, TV at its best: Simultaneously educational and entertaining at the same time.
The similarity between what happened during Prohibition and the attempted enforcement of the Volstead Act and today’s “war on drugs” was not lost on me, and on the surface, one can see why legalizing drugs could be appealing in an attempt to stamp out the violence and criminal activity associated with the illicit drug trade. On the other hand, are we really ready for something like legalized heroin? How, exactly, would that work? I don’t think that one can really equate alcohol with drugs that produce a high with a relatively low dosage; one can easily have 2-3 drinks (depending on body weight) and not really feel a whole lot. On the other hand, a single hit of heroin is a totally different story. What would be the unintended consequences of legalizing a very strong drug like that? If it were easily accessible, would we have more strung-out addicts to deal with, putting even more of a burden on our health care system?
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Edited to add: Just saw this on Small Wars Journal: http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/call-off-the-global-drug-war Lots of good comments, and clearly lots of people struggle with the basic conundrum we are in: Do we continue a “Drug war” that is not working, do we legalize drugs, or do we try and adopt a different approach that focuses more on demand than on supply? I, for one, am a bit flummoxed on what the right thing to do his here.
When prohibition was repealed, we did not go back to the way things were before. Prior to prohibition, the sale of alcholol was essentially unregulated, either because in many places there were no controls and in others, where there were controls they were not enforced plus there was a cutlure that accepted wanton drunkeness on a vast scale. After prohibition (ie today) there is a high level of control on when, where and what you can buy in terms of alcholol and an extremely vigorous enforcement of those laws. And, the culture has changed some too.
The analogy then is not heroin in every party store but maybe more like heroin and the other hard stuff still being illegal and you might be able to get some pot at a dispensory between 9 and 5 on weekdays if you were 21 or older and there could only be 1 dispensory per X population, etc. But you’re local dealer will be totally out of business. That might work as far as it went since it would probably result in less pot being available but we’d still have illegal hard drugs and a drug war so its probably not worth the controversy.
I also watched the PBS series and agree it was very well done and informative.
The “war on drugs” has been the biggest scam in American history. Its not working and is a huge waste of tax payer money and almost everybody realizes it… The problem is the exact same as with the prohibition era - religious right and other conservatives are unbending in their refusal to admit that it is not working despite all evidence to the contrary. Consequently politicians continue with the same unaffective policies for fear of being branded as being soft on drugs, so the dog continues to chase its tail. Also, I’m sure the criminals involved and the so called respectable “greased palms” wouldn’t want the “war on drugs” to ever end as there is just too much money to be made. It was the same during prohibition. Capone and his paid off officials were the last people who wanted to see an end to prohibition. What does “getting tougher” on drugs really mean - throwing anybody with a couple of joints in their pocket into prison?
I’d rather see a heroin addict being able to hit up in a supervised “safe house” where he/she can clean needles and get appropriate medical help/addiction counselling rather than hitting up on the street with dirty needles.
Why does the question/model have to be legalize ALL drugs immediately?
Why not start with one drug, say mairijuana, and see how it works?
In fact, I have to believe that if they did eventually legalize ALL drugs, a phase-in would be a likely.
Considering that, I realize that many times folks try frame these discussions by using extreme example; perhaps to better illustrate their position. I understand that and have no problem with it as a general “tactic.” If that’s what is happening here, I wonder why heroin is used as the “extreme example.”
Do folks consider heroin/opiates as the strongest or most dangerous drug?
I’m really not trying to illustrate my position because I currently don’t have one…I’m not really sure what the right answer is to this. Just trying to jumpstart a discussion.
That was a great show. Really enjoyed it. What struck me was just how bad alcoholism was in the early part of the 20th century.
I thought about the comparison to the war on drugs. Similar but different. Take heroin for example. If memory serves me correctly, isn’t it possible to become addicted to heroin after one try?
That was a great show. Really enjoyed it. What struck me was just how bad alcoholism was in the early part of the 20th century.
I thought about the comparison to the war on drugs. Similar but different. Take heroin for example. If memory serves me correctly, isn’t it possible to become addicted to heroin after one try?
Not really. Even heroin addiction takes some time to take hold. Opiates are, according to some, the only recreational drugs that are ‘truly’ physically addictive due to the metabolic changes they cause. But these changes take time and are not ‘instant’.
Sure, someone could do heroin once, decide they really like it, and do it more until they’re actually addicted - but that doesn’t mean they were addicted ‘after one try’.
Also, we now have the income tax rather than excise taxes due to the Progressive/Prohibitionist movement–they needed to find a new source of revenue to replace the lost excise taxes on alcohol.
I was particularly looking forward to it because I really didn’t have a grasp on events leading up to Prohibition. Not necessarily speaking of the early 1900’s, but more the period following the Civil War when the Temperance Movement began.
Very educational.
Of particular note is how Alcoholics Anonymous curiously began immediately following prohibition’s end. Many of the early founders of AA must have been floundering during Prohibition.
Opiates are, according to some, the only recreational drugs that are ‘truly’ physically addictive due to the metabolic changes they cause.
Does this include alcohol? Methamphetamine?
One of the mionr details that the program brought out was that the amount of “severe alcoholics” may have increased during prohibition. I believe that this was one of reasons used by those favoring the repeal of prohibition.
My theory goes something like this…the gov’t has no right to tell you what you can and can’t do with your body.
So all drugs should be legal, regulated and taxed.
Sure there would have to be a reallocation of funds from the locking up of drug users to the treatment of drug users, but I don’t see how that would add to the total cost…plus it would free up A LOT of jail space for keeping violent offenders locked up.
“You haven’t been watching the show. Prohibition was actually brought about through the Progressive movement, not Conservative.”
Actually, I did watch the PBS series with considerable interest. I’ll give you points that “progressives” may have been behind the introduction of prohibition, but they also turned around and were against it in mass once they realized prohibition just wasn’t working. The main resistance, at least according to the series from what I took out of it, was the religious conservatives who fought against repeal.
Of course now that its been repealed and its now now legal to have a drink , we could always discuss this further over a beer or rum drink next time I’m in Florida.
I think we are already in an experiment that is close to legalized marijuana. There was a special, can’t remmember which network that showed the laws in Colorado, activities in trying to stop US marijuana farms, and also how other countries are handling drugs.
The thing they were showing about Colorado was that there are enough sleazy doctors willing to give out the medicinal marijuana cards for a hundred bucks or so, that anyone can get a card. All you have to do is say you are in severe pain. According to the show there are more places selling medical marijuana than there are Starbucks in Colorado.
It can’t be good for the individual or society for so many people to be stoned. I used to work with a bunch of pot heads in college, It does not help productivity.
