I continue to be amazed that the media storm around the latest Underbelly series, set in Kings Cross, never mentions the pivotal role of prohibition in driving the engines of crime and corruption.
So full marks to Rob Stary -- lawyer for Carl Williams who was brutally bashed to death yesterday in a Victorian prison -- for naming the unmentionable.
He was asked by Adam Spencer on ABC 702 whether this murder was "the end of the story" of the circle of deaths and corruption around the drug dealing Moran family and its enemies.
Mr Stary had explained how the war had erupted in an argument over the retail price of prohibited amphetamines. Carl Williams' mob had been undercutting the Morans, who got toey. When they had a meeting about it they agreed to bring no weapons but Jason Moran brought in a .22 pistol and shot Williams in the stomach. Williams was saved by his ample fat, and lived to go on a killing spree, his vengeance on the Morans.
But was Williams' death the "end of the story"?
No, he replied, this was just the beginning of a new chapter. In any society that had a prohibition model, these events would make no difference to the distribution of drugs, he said. This is because new people would simply come in to reap the huge untaxed profits prohibition makes possible.
Along the way, he said, 40 Victorian Police had been found guilty of corruption, but a full Royal Commission style enquiry was being resisted by the Police Union.
One reason nobody wants to name prohibition as the problem is because they all make money out of it. The Police and jail industries thrive on it, and so do the media... they all have a vested interest in continuing the vicious cycle of drugs, corruption and murder.
Here's a link to the SMH story about Mr Williams' murder. Meanwhile, despite record policing, cocaine-related charges are up 55% in NSW, also reported in today's SMH. Hello? Is anyone else joining the dots here?
2 comments:
There seems to be no end to the violence drug trafficking causes. It funds terrorism, feeds crime syndicates, causes street violence and destroys the lives of those who become addicts. Clearly not enough is being done to stem the bloodshed.The drug war needs to be and continued to be fought on many fronts. Thank you for your update.
Hi Bobby. You don't seem to have understood the post. It is the War on Drugs that causes most of the harm and fails to stop addicts getting addicted.
Thanks for your comment.
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