It seems the millions of people who use illicit drugs in Australia prefer to keep their heads down and let the unlucky few who are caught wear the consequences of enforcement.
If every pot smoker in the country turned up to their local police station at the same time and pleaded guilty, the whole system would break down.
But spare a thought for victims of the War on Drugs in the USA. Below is police video of a night raid on a family in Missouri in which the police break open the door, shoot the dog -- it sounds like several times -- with a child present. They found a small amount of cannabis, and charged the guy with endangering children (because he had some pot in the house, which is safer than alcohol by any objective measure)! Is the terror and violence proportionate to this victimless 'crime'?
Truly, the War on Drugs is far more harmful than the drugs themselves. The Cato Institute estimates there are 40,000 such raids in the US each year.
Warning, this video is distressing.
This blog began as an online newspaper about Kings Cross, Sydney. It now focuses on the deep problems of drug prohibition - which are so intrinsic to Kings Cross anyway - and exposes the many flaws in the prohibitionist argument, and the pseudo-science that governments fund to prop up their unjust and ineffective laws. Comments are welcome, but please be polite! Content on this site reflects only the views of the writer and are not necessarily those of the editor or any other organisation.
American law is an arse... isn't that the same country that came up with that "illegal combatants" ruse to lock up however many thousand on land that should belong to Cuba?
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