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Originally Posted by magician
but I can tell you that simple street trafficking has been significantly curtailed.
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Reminds me of an anecdote I read. Seems some liberal was giving a Muslim a hard time about having a drug problem in his country despite the death penalty for trafficking. The Muslim replied "that is true - but we don't have repeat offenders!" One of the things I learned observing the "Narcotraficante Hard Knocks School of Economics" - Death tends to distort cost/risk - benefit analysis somewhat.
Saca - I am humbled! Talk about an intellectual broadside.
As you can discern from my previous posts I adhere to elements of both arguments. My only quibble with your counter-argument is the portion of your "pragmatic" argument where you equate crimes with a clear victim to illicit drug use (the actual act - not the frequent criminal activities that often support the act) which by Mills' definition would be essentially a victimless crime (self destruction being a right of the individual). Sorry - the world is too full of individuals bent on self destructive behavior for me to waste concern on them. Law exists to deter criminals and (speaking personally) should be restricted to preventing crimes against other persons - infringements of their rights, so to speak, not on regulating self destructive behavior. Intelligent people are (usually) self-regulating. I wear a seatbelt when I drive - not because its the law but because I've rolled several vehicles. When I used to ride a motorcycle, I wore a helmet - because I've dumped a bike several times. I disagree with both laws. I do agree with child (vehicle) restraint laws - children are not consenting adults and society has a duty to them until they reach the age of consent/competency.
NDD - You sound like you're having way too much fun. It also doesn't sound like much has changed. I remember working in the Chaparre, we could chart our effectiveness by what it cost to bribe the UMOPAR (Unidad Movil de Patrullaje Rural - the local counternarcotics police) per planeload. $1500 was routine, if we had closed them down for a while and the Colombians were getting antsy for more Base or Paste, the price went way up - in excess of $10-15,000. The corruption was incredible. The police officers (military style rank structure) actually planned on bribes as part of their pay. Rotating in and out of the Chaparre on regular "tours of duty" was good for a new car, private school for the kids, a nest egg for retirement, baubles for the wife - you name it. Of course the soldados didn't share in the bounty at quite the same level. Very class conscious society. And the ultimate sign of failure in the "War on Drugs"? It's now reaching the American street cheaper and purer than ever. The economics of volume. A practical measure of the absolute failure of the current strategy and tactics.
Doc - I'm with you on the self-medicating issue. People consuming illicit substances need to have their heads examined. That means they're psych cases. Ergo - "Catch 22" - they are incapable of competently recognizing, diagnosing, or treating their own disorders. So why allow/encourage them to self-medicate? (Especially when it never solves the underlying problem.)
COL M - No sir (ref vigilante), but what you advocate doing to deserving dirtbags would fit some liberal DA's definition of vigilante quite nicely. Within limits I like the concept of vigilantes, they have a legitimate purpose in disfunctional societies. Nature abhors a vacuum, rampant lawlessness absent an effective counter creates a vacuum, vigilantes fill the vacuum and (ideally) serve at need. Governments and society in general fear vigilantes because their existence and actions challenge the prerogatives of government, they are difficult to guide, impossible to control, and they invariably stray from their intended purpose. As an example I submit the various paramilitaries in Colombia. NOTE: I am not lionizing/glorifying/etc. them or their actions, I merely use them to illustrate both side of my point. Think of the concept the way somebody once described fire - "a dangerous servant, a deadly master".
Just a few thoughts to add to an already overlong and somewhat meandering thread. Peregrino