by Future of Freedom Foundation
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Posts Tagged ‘drug war’
Political Silence on the Drug War
Posted by M. C. on September 27, 2024
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: drug war, Political Silence | Leave a Comment »
The Drug War’s Banking Blowback
Posted by M. C. on November 14, 2023
Deeply afraid of the feds, bank officers decided that it would be safer to simply get rid of Delaney and Maslanka. The bank closed their bar’s account as well as their personal checking and credit-card accounts. They were given only a “handful of weeks to make other banking arrangements.”
REMINDER: This Thursday, November 9, at 7 p.m. Eastern. Austrian economics star Richard Ebeling will be our sixth and final presenter in our online Austrian conference: “How Austrian Economics Impacted My Life.” Register here to receive your Zoom link. I hope to see you there!
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At the end of the great 1988 movie Midnight Run, which stars Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, Grodin hands De Niro a small pouch containing $300,000. How could a small pouch contain so much money? Because it was filled with $1,000 bills.
So, where are the $1,000 bills today? They are gone. The feds withdrew them from circulation. The reason? They felt that such large bills were making it easier for drug cartels to transport and hide their money. So, the idea was that by limiting everyone to $100 bills, the cartels would be impeded in their efforts to launder their money.
Question for the federal drug warriors: How has that scheme worked out for you all? Because it sure seems to me that the drug trade is still going strong despite the lack of $1,000 bills.
As we all know, the drug war has brought violence, death, drug gangs, drug cartels, official corruption (e.g. bribes to law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, and judges), an enormous federal bureaucracy that feeds at the public trough, massive violations of civil liberties, and other negative consequences. I suppose I should also point out that it has brought nothing but failure from the standpoint of eradicating or significantly reducing drug consumption in the United States.
But there is another negative aspect to the drug war, one that has been aggravated by the “war on terrorism.” That negative aspect pertains to banking operations.
In 1970, the feds enacted the Bank Secrecy Act with the aim of fighting money laundering. The act requires banks to file reports with the federal government on any customer who deposits or withdraws $10,000 from his account. The idea was that the feds would now be able to catch all those drug dealers who were depositing their enormous black-market profits into their bank accounts.
But that’s not all. The banks are also required to report any “suspicious” activity on the part of their customers.
The law, however, ended up converting bankers into loyal spies for the feds. Since bank officers know that the federal government will come down on them like a sledgehammer if banking regulators discover that a bank didn’t report some “suspicious” activity, especially if it later turns out that the activity was conducted by a drug dealer, banks now bend over backwards to be loyal agents of the federal government.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Bank Secrecy Act, banking, Blowback, drug war, suspicious activity | Leave a Comment »
Republican Solutions Would Destabilize Central America, Not Fix It
Posted by M. C. on October 24, 2023
Yes, very shocking news: trying to make the civilian population of another state so miserable they choose to try and overthrow the regime doesn’t work.
Geez, if only Washington had known that from repeatedly trying it before…like in Iraq…or Iran…or Cuba…
Watching the Republican Party presidential debates has been surreal in many ways. Apart from the awkward spectacle of Mike Pence and Chris Christie acting like they have a chance at the Oval Office, perhaps nothing has been more confounding than the new, hottest idea: bombing and invading Mexico to solve the drug crisis. And it gets better! Because while they’re at it, the military will solve the migrant crisis, too.
This really is baffling.
Except for those monied interests who benefit from its continued fighting, the drug war has been a total failure. Pick any metric you like.
So, too, but for those monied interests who benefit from its continued fighting, the Global War on Terror has been a failure on all fronts. Again, pick any metric you like.
So why would a war on “narco-terrorism” be expected to go any differently?
I mean really, taking a step back, does the fact that so many of the migrants are now Venezuelan not strike these Republicans or their voters as in any way odd? No more than the fact that so many of the same migrants headed north thirty years ago were Guatemalan and Salvadoran.
Nor that efforts by each of the previous administrations at intervention and influence operations in Latin America (Honduras in 2009, Bolivia in 2019, or Venezuela in 2020) have all been failures.
It really is strange. One would think that a policy that generated such obvious negative consequences would have surely been abandoned. But it hasn’t. And just as destroying the Middle East and destabilizing North Africa led to the migrant crisis Europe is still enduring, Washington’s focus on isolating and impoverishing an already populous and poor country like Venezuela has prompted many of them to pack up and leave
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Central America, drug war, Latin America, narco-terrorism | Leave a Comment »
The Mule Shows Why the Drug War Will Never Be Won
Posted by M. C. on June 30, 2023
The movie demonstrates why the drug war will never be won. As officials crack down, they reduce the supply of drugs. The reduced supply causes prices to increase. The increase in prices and profits attract regular people who realize that they can score big and probably not get caught.
Last night, I watched The Mule, the drug-war movie on Netflix that was produced and directed by Clint Eastwood. It was the second time I’ve seen the movie.
Eastwood also stars in the movie. He plays an elderly drug transporter for a drug cartel, which in drug-war parlance is called a “mule.”
As with many drug-war movies, you can’t help but like and sympathize with Eastwood. Every time he is close to being busted by the DEA and local law enforcement, the natural tendency is to root for Eastwood and not the cops.
Why does Eastwood risk getting caught and being sent to jail? Money! He needs it bad. His home is being foreclosed upon and he is barely surviving. Accepting the job as a drug mule not only provides him with money, it provides him with big money, enough to save his home and live a lavish lifestyle.
The movie demonstrates why the drug war will never be won. As officials crack down, they reduce the supply of drugs. The reduced supply causes prices to increase. The increase in prices and profits attract regular people who realize that they can score big and probably not get caught.
Now, I’m sure that there are drug warriors who would respond, “Jacob, that’s just in the movies. That sort of thing doesn’t happen in real life.”
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Clint Eastwood, DEA, drug war, The Mule | Leave a Comment »
The Drug War: An Irrational Crusade | Mises Wire
Posted by M. C. on May 25, 2023
The European Union’s average rate of drug-related deaths is five times higher than Portugal’s. From 1998 to 2011, drug treatment attendees in Portugal increased by 60 percent. This result is encouraging because Portuguese citizens are seeking help, rather than fearing incarceration.
Even the diabolical Charles Manson distributed drugs while imprisoned. Does one honestly think the government will eradicate drugs off the streets?
https://mises.org/wire/drug-war-irrational-crusade
It’s been over five decades since the war on drugs began in the United States, and billions of dollars coerced from taxpayers have been spent on this frivolous operation. The General Accounting Office’s report found that the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program did not deter youth from drug abuse. How exactly has this war benefited taxpayers when drug use has increased, and more potent drugs are being consumed? Even the diabolical Charles Manson distributed drugs while imprisoned. Does one honestly think the government will eradicate drugs off the streets?
The mere suggestion of legalizing drugs causes many to accuse me of advocating drug abuse. I do not have any inclination to consume harmful drugs, and neither do I condone such behavior. My motivation for writing this article, however, is grounded in freedom. I hope that after reading this, people across the political spectrum will understand this objective. For people on the right, they should realize this war is unconstitutional. The Constitution does not grant the government control of what someone injects into their body. The state continues to extend its tentacles of power over its people, and the war on drugs is just one facet of that reality.
The state believes it has the prerequisites to decree what can and cannot be allowed, not just regarding drug policy but in our private lives as well. Lysander Spooner, the nineteenth-century theorist, argued that vices are not crimes: “Vices are those acts by which a man harms himself or his property. Crimes are those acts by which one man harms the person or property of another.” You have total autonomy of your body, not the government or anyone else. This should hopefully register with individuals on the left. Today’s political climate has forced citizens into a political dichotomy with no room outside the uniparty’s parameters. Most politically passionate people fail to realize that they share quite a bit of similarities with their supposed “enemies.” It’s not Left versus Right; it’s the state versus you!
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Charles Manson, DARE, drug war, European Union, Lysander Spooner, Portugal’ | Leave a Comment »
Watch “Why Brittney Griner’s Arrest Should Cause Us to Examine the Drug War Here” on YouTube
Posted by M. C. on August 5, 2022
Why should basketball star Brittney Griner’s arrest in Russia cause us to examine the drug war here at home? Join FFF president Jacob G. Hornberger and Citadel professor Richard M. Ebeling, as they discuss this incident.
Discussion starts @ 06:00
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Brittney Griner, drug war | Leave a Comment »
A New Way to Fight the Drug War?
Posted by M. C. on February 14, 2022
Settling for reform can, at best, only result in an improvement of our condition as serfs. To achieve the free society, we have to dismantle and repeal, not reform, all infringements on liberty. That necessarily means making the consistent, principled case for the free society, including ending, not reforming, the drug war.
A letter to the editor of the Las Vegas Sun yesterday shows how important it is to raise people’s vision to higher level — one that goes beyond reform and instead goes to the principles of a free society.
The letter was written by a man named Michael Westerhaus. His letter brings up some of the important points about the government’s decades-long war on drugs:
1. “Our failed war on drugs” has brought on deaths of people from corrupted black-market drugs.
2. Charging the sellers of drugs with murder is just political posturing.
3. No-knock raids have killed innocent people.
4. Drug laws bring into existence drug cartels and gang wars “with more murders.”
5. Drug laws are not going to prevent addicts from doing whatever is necessary to get drugs.
To those points I would add the following one: People have the fundamental, God-given right to ingest whatever they want to ingest, no matter how harmful it might be. That’s an essential aspect of a free society.
But then here’s the kicker. Westerhaus cannot bring himself to see the solution to all this drug-war mayhem. He writes, “We need to find a better way to solve the medical problem of addiction.” The title of his letter to the editor is, “Find a new way to fight drug war.”
Oh so close, but yet still so far. Westerhaus is clearly on the verge of recognizing the only solution to America’s drug-war woes, but obviously still can’t bring himself to see it. The solution is not to find a new way to fight the drug war. The solution is to end the drug war. That necessarily means repealing all laws that criminalize the possession and distribution of drugs.
Prohibition of alcohol produced the same consequences as the prohibition of drugs. While there were those who called for new ways to enforce Prohibition, Americans finally came to the realization that the only solution was to end Prohibition. That’s what we need with the drug war.
Thus, the importance of raising people’s vision to a higher level — not on reforming the drug war but instead to the principles of a free society. Settling for reform can, at best, only result in an improvement of our condition as serfs. To achieve the free society, we have to dismantle and repeal, not reform, all infringements on liberty. That necessarily means making the consistent, principled case for the free society, including ending, not reforming, the drug war.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: drug war, free society, Michael Westerhaus | Leave a Comment »
Watch a Cop Intentionally Damage a Car While Executing a Search Warrant – Reason.com
Posted by M. C. on May 8, 2021
A Messina, New York, police officer is under investigation after video showed him intentionally slamming a door into a car several times.
Anyone know a good home surveillance system?
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: drug war, police abuse, search warrant | 1 Comment »
The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity : Police Problems? Embrace Liberty!
Posted by M. C. on April 27, 2021
The drug war is a major reason police have increasingly looked and acted like an occupying army. Police militarization threatens everyone’s liberty. Black people have been subjected to drug war arrests and imprisonment at relatively high rates.
Those interested in protecting and enhancing black people’s (and all people’s) lives should embrace liberty. Libertarians reject the use of force to achieve political, economic, or social goals, Therefore, in a libertarian society, police would only enforce laws prohibiting the initiation of force against persons or property.
Free markets, individual liberty, limited government, sound money, and peace are key to achieving prosperity and social cohesion. Those sincerely concerned about improving all human lives should turn away from the teaching of Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes, who advocated expansive government power, and, instead, embrace the ideas of pro-liberty writers such as Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard.
Written by Ron Paul
Many Americans saw former policeman Derek Chauvin’s conviction on all counts last week as affirming the principle that no one is above the law. Many others were concerned that the jury was scared that anything less than a full conviction would result in riots, and even violence against themselves and their families.
Was the jury’s verdict influenced by politicians and media figures who were calling for the jury to deliver the “right” verdict? Attempts to intimidate juries are just as offensive to the rule of law as suggestions that George Floyd’s criminal record somehow meant his rights were not important.
The video of then-policeman Chauvin restraining Floyd led people across the political and ideological spectrums to consider police reform. Sadly, there have also been riots across the country orchestrated by left-wing activists and organizations seeking to exploit concern about police misconduct to advance their agendas.
It is ironic to see self-described Marxists, progressives, and other leftists protesting violence by government agents. After all, their ideology rests on the use of force to compel people to obey politicians and bureaucrats.
It is also ironic to see those who claim to want to protect and improve “black lives” support big government.
Black people, along with other Americans, have had their family structure weakened by welfare policies encouraging single parenthood. This results in children being raised without fathers as a regular presence in their lives, increasing the likelihood the children will grow up to become adults with emotional and other problems.
Those at the bottom of the economic ladder are restrained in improving their situation because of minimum wage laws, occupational licensing regulations, and other government interference in the marketplace. They are also victims of the Federal Reserve’s inflation tax.
Many progressives who claim to believe that “black lives matter” do not care that there is a relatively high abortion rate of black babies. These so-called pro-choice progressives are the heirs of the racists who founded the movement to legalize and normalize abortion.
The drug war is a major reason police have increasingly looked and acted like an occupying army. Police militarization threatens everyone’s liberty. Black people have been subjected to drug war arrests and imprisonment at relatively high rates.
Those interested in protecting and enhancing black people’s (and all people’s) lives should embrace liberty. Libertarians reject the use of force to achieve political, economic, or social goals, Therefore, in a libertarian society, police would only enforce laws prohibiting the initiation of force against persons or property.
A libertarian society would leave the provision of aid to the needy to local communities, private charities, and religious organizations. Unlike the federal welfare state, private charities can provide effective and compassionate aid without damaging family structure or making dependency a way of life. In a libertarian society, individuals could pursue economic opportunity free of the burdens of government regulations and taxes, as well as free of the Federal Reserve’s fiat currency.
Free markets, individual liberty, limited government, sound money, and peace are key to achieving prosperity and social cohesion. Those sincerely concerned about improving all human lives should turn away from the teaching of Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes, who advocated expansive government power, and, instead, embrace the ideas of pro-liberty writers such as Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Derek Chauvin, drug war, Ludwig von Mises, Marxists, police, Progressives | Leave a Comment »
The Destructive Futility of the Drug War – The Future of Freedom Foundation
Posted by M. C. on March 15, 2021
It’s a money maker for federal judges, federal prosecutors, federal agents, federal clerks, and the entire federal drug-war bureaucracy. That’s why these people love it so much. And they all know that there is no end to it. The drug war is as perpetual as the federal “war on terrorism,” another great big perpetual money-making racket that keeps the entire military-industrial complex in high cotton.
https://www.fff.org/2021/03/12/the-destructive-futility-of-the-drug-war/
The U.S. government’s drug warriors have recently made another drug bust, adding to the countless number of drug busts it has made since the drug war was launched decades ago. Their latest target is Emma Colonel Aispuro, the wife of the famous Mexican drug lord El Chapo, who the feds convicted and incarcerated for life for drug-war violations. Although Coronel attended her husband’s trial in 2019 in Brooklyn, the feds, for some unexplained reason, waited until 2021 to bust her while she was at Dulles Airport.
One possibility, of course, is that they plan to squeeze her into squealing on other Mexican drug lords who they can import from Mexico and put into American prisons. Regardless, it really doesn’t matter whether they target her or people they get her to snitch on. The drug war will just continue on with more drug busts and incarcerations.
In other words, no matter who they bust or how many people they bust, things will remain the same. They always have. There is no end to this federal government program. It’s a money maker for federal judges, federal prosecutors, federal agents, federal clerks, and the entire federal drug-war bureaucracy. That’s why these people love it so much. And they all know that there is no end to it. The drug war is as perpetual as the federal “war on terrorism,” another great big perpetual money-making racket that keeps the entire military-industrial complex in high cotton.
For decades, drug-war proponents exclaimed, “If only they would really crack down and really enforce these drug laws, we would win!” But over the years, they have cracked down, viciously, and yet the drug war just keeps going and going and going. Of course, the federal people who thrive off the drug war are the ones who continue winning.
Let’s assume though that the feds were given the omnipotent power to really crack down in the war on drugs by being empowered to kill whoever they suspected of being a drug-war violator. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate way to crack down and finally “win” the war on drugs?
Well, that’s not really a hypothetical. It’s a reality. That’s what happened in the Philippines. Since 2016, the government’s drug agents have been empowered to win the war on drugs by simply killing drug-war violators. Since then, over 12,000 Filipinos have been killed, mostly poor people.
So, there you have it — the ultimate way to win the war on drugs by cleansing society of drug-war violators by simply killing them. What better way to win the war on drugs than to crack down like that, right? We could get the U.S. military to perform that task here in the United States.
Except for one thing: They still haven’t won the war on drugs in the Philippines. They are still waging the drug war more fiercely than ever. It seems that the ultimate crackdown can’t win the war on drugs after all. The war just keeps continuing and continuing and continuing.
There are two groups of people who benefit from all this government mayhem: the drug lords and government officials. They both thrive off of drug illegality. If drugs were legal, both groups would be out of business and would have to find meaningful work elsewhere. That’s why they both have a vested interest in keeping the drug war going, no matter how destructive and no matter how futile.
The fact is that government has no more business controlling what people ingest, buy, or sell than it does controlling what they read. It’s simply none of the government’s business. And as we learned during the war on booze, and as we have learned in the war on drugs, when government crosses the line and begins controlling what people ingest, buy, and sell, the results are horrific.
The federal prosecution of Emma Colonel Aispuro will generate big headlines and press coverage, just as so many other drug busts have since the drug war was launched long ago. Regardless of whether Colonel is convicted or acquitted, the drug war will go on, in perpetual search for the next person to target, prosecute, and incarcerate.EMAIL
This post was written by: Jacob G. Hornberger
Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. He was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and received his B.A. in economics from Virginia Military Institute and his law degree from the University of Texas. He was a trial attorney for twelve years in Texas. He also was an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas, where he taught law and economics. In 1987, Mr. Hornberger left the practice of law to become director of programs at the Foundation for Economic Education. He has advanced freedom and free markets on talk-radio stations all across the country as well as on Fox News’ Neil Cavuto and Greta van Susteren shows and he appeared as a regular commentator on Judge Andrew Napolitano’s show Freedom Watch. View these interviews at LewRockwell.com and from Full Context. Send him email.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: drug war, El Chapo, Emma Colonel Aispuro | Leave a Comment »
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