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malcolmkyle commented on the blog post Plan B Reminder: Obama Controls the Executive Branch at All Levels
By 1931, most people had realized that National Prohibition had been a mistake and were ready to repeal it. Almost all, except for President Hoover, who actually increased government spending on Prohibition law enforcement. Soon, the entire nation was clamoring for repeal, and not even the president could do anything to stop it.
The 1932 presidential election came and a new president was elected, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (more
commonly known as FDR). Within a month of his election, the alcohol content allowed in beer was raised to 3.2 percent. Soon an amendment to the constitution was proposed. It was on December 5, 1933 that Utah was the 36th state to ratify the 21st amendment and end National Prohibition. This made the 18th amendment the only constitutional amendment to be repealed.
After that, it was the states’ job to decide if a state prohibition was necessary. Most states got rid of state prohibitions, but Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma kept their prohibition laws in place the longest. Kansas ended statewide prohibition in 1948, whereas Oklahoma ended theirs in 1959. The longest state prohibition was Missouri, who ended state prohibition in 1966, almost 35 years after National Prohibition was repealed.
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malcolmkyle commented on the blog post Washington and Rhode Island Governors Ask Feds to Reschedule Marijuana
An appeal to all Prohibitionists:
Most of us are aware by now that individuals who use illegal drugs are going to get high, ‘no matter what.’ So why do you not prefer they acquire them in stores that check IDs and pay taxes? Gifting the market in narcotics to ruthless criminals, foreign terrorists and corrupt law enforcement officials is seriously compromising our future. If you remotely believe that people will one day quit using any of these ‘at present’ illegal drugs, then you are exhibiting a degree of naivety parallel only with those poor deluded wretches who voluntarily drank the poisoned Kool-Aid in Jonestown.
Even if you cannot stand the thought of people using drugs, there is absolutely nothing you, or any government, can do to stop them. We have spent 40 years and over a trillion dollars on this dangerous farce. Practically everybody is now aware that Prohibition will not suddenly and miraculously start showing different results. So why do you wish to continue with a policy that has proven itself to be a poison in the veins of our once so proud & free nation? Do you actually think you may have something to lose If we were to start basing drug policy on science & logic instead of ignorance, hate and lies?
Maybe you’re a police officer, a prison guard or a local politician. Possibly you’re scared of losing employment, overtime-pay, the many kick-backs and those regular fat bribes. But what good will any of that do you once our society has followed Mexico over the dystopian abyss of dismembered bodies, vats of acid and marauding thugs carrying gold-plated AK-47s with leopard-skinned gunstocks?
Kindly allow us to forgo the next level of your sycophantic prohibition-engendered mayhem.
Prohibition Prevents Regulation : Legalize, Regulate and Tax!
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malcolmkyle commented on the diary post Past Time For Ending Senseless War on Drugs by Ruth Calvo.
If you support prohibition then you are NOT a conservative. Conservative principles, quite clearly, ARE: 1) Limited, locally controlled government. 2) Individual liberty coupled with personal responsibility. 3) Free enterprise. 4) A strong national defense. 5) Fiscal responsibility. Prohibition is actually an authoritarian War on the Constitution and all civic institutions of our great nation. [...]
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malcolmkyle commented on the diary post Past Time For Ending Senseless War on Drugs by Ruth Calvo.
For those of you who are still living in some strange parallel universe, one where prohibition actually works, here is part of the testimony of Judge Alfred J Talley, given before the Senate Hearings of 1926: “For the first time in our history, full faith and confidence in and respect for the hitherto sacred Constitution [...]
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malcolmkyle commented on the blog post Strong Signs Massachusetts Voters Are Ready to Embrace Marijuana Legalization
Alcohol prohibition in the US run from 1919 to 1933 – Now google ‘The Great Wall Street Crash’ and see when that happened!
The second biggest business during prohibition in Detroit was liquor at $215 million a year and employing about 50,000 people. Authorities were not only helpless to stop it, many were part of the problem. During one raid the state police arrested Detroit Mayor John Smith, Michigan Congressman Robert Clancy and Sheriff Edward Stein.
The Mexican cartels are ready to show, that when it comes to business, they also like to be nonpartisan. They will buy-out or threaten politicians of any party, make deals with whoever can benefit them, and kill those who are brave or foolish enough to get in their way.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped evolve local gangs into transnational enterprises with intricate power structures that reach into every corner of society, controlling vast swaths of territory with significant social and military resources at their disposal.
During alcohol prohibition, all profits went to enrich thugs and criminals. Young men died every day on inner-city streets while battling over turf. A fortune was wasted on enforcement that could have gone on treatment. On top of the budget-busting prosecution and incarceration costs, billions in taxes were lost. Finally the economy collapsed. Sound familiar?
If you have liberty then expect prosperity, but there’s most definitely no chance of prosperity without liberty.
