This is the U.S. on drugs - Los Angeles Times

The United States has been spending $69 billion a year worldwide for the last 40 years, for a total of $2.5 trillion, on drug prohibition -- with little to show for it. Is anyone actually benefiting from this war? Six groups come to mind.

By the the way, the authors of the piece are not just silly legalizers like me.

David W. Fleming, a lawyer, is the chairman of the Los Angeles County Business Federation and immediate past chairman of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. James P. Gray is a judge of the Orange County Superior Court.

So there.

The six groups the authors thought to mention that benefit from the War on Some Drugs were:

• Drugs lords everywhere making billions of tax-free dollars
• Street gangs involved in peddling the stuff
• Government drug warriors preserving and growing their turf
• Politicians manipulating voters
• The Prison/Cop Complex (PCC)
  The authors referred to this bunch as "people who make money from increased crime". They point out that the prison guards union in California is one of the strongest, and growing, lobbying groups in California today. The authors didn't make specific mention of the "cop" part of the PCC, but they should have.
• Terrorists funding their operations with dope.

Some people might say I'm being redundant, but Iran/Contra comes to mind so I'd add:

• Governments funding their illegal operations with dope.

Another group I'd add to this list is

• Purveyors of currently legal mind-altering drugs.

There are others whose financial and power interests are served by continuing the War on Some Drugs, of course. To hell with them all.

One of my favorite movie lines goes something like, "A person is smart. People are stupid."

Once again:

The United States has been spending $69 billion a year worldwide for the last 40 years, for a total of $2.5 trillion, on drug prohibition -- with little to show for it.

We are so fucking stupid...