Prohibition Proposal

Lukas E. Wegmann
CJ 500
10-6-2013

Proposal

“Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.” (Abraham Lincoln, Illinois House of Representatives, December 18, 1840) In lieu of the present situation of the drug war in America, our mission is to minimize the flow of illegal drugs into the country and reduce drug addiction. As long as drugs remain illegal they will continue to be profitable, causing the successful
execution of our mission to elude us. My proposal addresses the problem of drugs in America not as an issue of moral vice laws, but as an economic problem in dire need of rectification. The problem is not in the failure or collapse of our Criminal Justice system, but in the simple near sightedness of its approach to fighting drug crime. Despite an increased emphasis on prevention and treatment programs by the present administration in recent years, the total costs of everything from drug-related arrests to prison adds up to at least $51 billion per year. It is a known fact that the criminal justice system is the major benefactor of this drug money, while minorities continue to be its primary target. In minimizing the flow of illegal drugs, I propose that we end the prohibition of drugs and put in its place a tight system of government regulation and control that will cripple the cartels and street dealers who control the illegal market that is slowly but surely contributing to our economic downfall.
This new system will ensure that cartel supported gang bangers are denied a product to sell while establishing a regulated market that requires labeling and ID to purchase products intended for adult consumption. This year President Obama correctly stated that drug abuse is a health and education problem and should be treated as such. With my course in action, a percentage of the revenue created by the execution of my plan would be placed towards building new and improving existing drug rehabilitation centers instead of filling up our prisons with low level offenders that come out as hardened criminals as a result. By following through with my plan for a system of regulation and
control:
Broken communities would heal
Drugs would gradually lose their appeal for future generations
Education would replace arrest
Fewer guns found in the hands of criminals
Mass incarceration of non-whites would shrink
Treatment would replace the brand of “felon”
Gangs and cartels would literally go out of business
Better relationships between local law enforcement and communities

Federal legislature has recently lowered the floor and has become more lenient on state drug laws. U.S Attorney General Eric Holder announced in August 2013 that he was ordering prosecutors to stop charging lower-level drug offenders with “draconian minimum mandatory sentences.” This strongly suggests that we are headed towards the end of the drug prohibition era and looking forward to a more efficient and effective way to wage the War on Drugs. After the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has been merged into The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), it will be most beneficial for this newest department under the wing of Homeland Security to work closely with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), create a similar but separate branch, or simply merge ONDCP drug enforcement duties into the role of ATF, for quality assurance investigation of federal interest in buying/selling these items.
As part of the effort, the Justice Department will no longer list drug quantities in indictments of low level offenders, they instead will focus on prosecuting individuals with ties to cartels, violent gangs, and large-scale drug trafficking, this will cause the charges to shift from a simple violation of moral vice laws to that of illegal money laundering. Federal and state legislature should always be working together to recognize the sovereignty of the law abiding citizen and protecting their interests by making money laundering, prosecution of bankers, and seizures of cash leaving the country the highest drug enforcement priority of federal and state
police. August Vollmer who is known as “the father of modern policing,” has always been a role model of mine. He was also the primary author of the Wickersham Commission report, which was the document that supported the forward thinking and insight that brought an end to the prohibition of alcohol. Vollmer’s report concluded that the prohibition of alcohol gave birth to organized crime, internal corruption in a government, as well as some of the highest crime rates in history of the United States. He also thought the same was true of police involvement in drug addiction. According to Vollmer, “the enforcement of moralistic vice laws leads to police corruption and engenders disrespect both for law and for the agents of law enforcement.”

References
Downing, S. (2013). Drugs: A war lost and a way forward. doi:10-6-2013
Sledge, M. (2013). The drug war and mass incarceration by the numbers. doi:04-08-2013
Wilkey, R., & Reilly, R. (2013). Eric holder: 'broken ' justice system needs 'sweeping ' changes, reforms to mandatory minimum.