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Prominent Voices Oppose Failed Prohibition Policies"The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this."-- Albert Einstein, My First Impression of the U.S.A., 1921 “When Prohibition was introduced, I hoped that it would be widely supported by public opinion and the day would soon come when the evil effects of alcohol would be recognized. I have slowly and reluctantly come to believe that this has not been the result. Instead, drinking has generally increased; the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored Prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened; and crime has increased to a level never seen before.” -- John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 1932 “We advocate the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment…we urge the enactment of such measures by the several states as will actually promote temperance, effectively prevent the return of the saloon, and bring the liquor traffic into the open under complete supervision and control by the states.” -- Democratic Party Platform, 1932 “[T]he United States Conference of Mayors believes the war on drugs has failed and calls for a New Bottom Line in U.S. drug policy, a public health approach that concentrates more fully on reducing the negative consequences associated with drug abuse, while ensuring that our policies do not exacerbate these problems or create new social problems of their own…” -- U.S Conference of Mayors, “A New bottom Line in Reducing the Harms of Substance Abuse,” passed June 2007 “[T]he war on drugs has failed: every community in the US contends with the harmful effects of drug misuse and related problems, and while states have continually increased their expenditures to wage the war on drugs, policies which rely heavily on arrest and incarceration have proved costly and ineffective at addressing these issues…” -- National Black Caucus of State Legislators, “A Resolution to Investigate the Real Cost of the War on Drugs,” passed December 3, 2004 “We believe that the global war on drugs is now causing more harm than drug abuse itself…U.N. agencies estimate the annual revenue generated by the illegal drug industry at $400 billion…This industry has empowered organized criminals, corrupted governments at all levels, eroded internal security, stimulated violence, and distorted both economic markets and moral values. These are the consequences not of drug use per se, but of decades of failed and futile drug war policies.” -- Open letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, June 1, 1998, signed by, among others: Walter Cronkite, Joycelyn Elders, Milton Friedman, Kweisi Mfume, Kurt Schmoke and George Shultz “For decades the United States has been fighting a losing war against drugs. While budgets have increased dramatically over the last two decades and drug-related incarcerations consistently reach new records, drug problems worsen…At a time when the federal budget is limited programs need to re-evaluated and funding needs to go to programs that work. We need new ideas to save lives, we can't afford to continue to be wrong.” -- “Eight Steps to Effectively Controlling Drug Abuse & The Drug Market,” endorsed by, among others, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA) and United Church of Christ “[T]he war on drugs has failed: despite spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars and incarcerating millions of people, illegal drugs remain cheap, potent, and widely available in every community in the United States. Meanwhile, the harms associated with drug abuse – addiction; overdose; the spread of AIDS/HIV, Hepatitis and other diseases – continue to mount…” -- National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators “A Resolution Calling For A New Bottom Line In” Reducing The Harms Of Drug Abuse,” passed November 18, 2006 “The drug war is causing crime. It is just chewing up young black men. And it's killing Newark.” -- Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker, June 24, 2007 “Have we failed to consider the lessons of the Prohibition era? Now is the time to fight on the only terms the drug underground empire respects - money. Let's take the profit out of drug trafficking.” -- Former Baltimore, MD Mayor Kurt Schmoke “The role of government should be to prevent the most chaotic drug users from harming others – by robbing or by driving while drugged, for instance – and to regulate drug markets to ensure minimum quality and safe distribution. The first task is hard if law enforcers are preoccupied with stopping all drug use; the second, impossible as long as drugs are illegal." -- The Economist, editorial, June 28, 2001 |