National Drug Enforcement Industry:

Chapter 1B.3.1
THE NATIONAL DRUG ENFORCMENT INDUSTRY:

WHY CANNABIS WILL NEVER BE RE-LEGALIZED
Part I - National Drug Enforcement Industry --- There are big bucks in IT:

QUESTION: Will Medical Cannabis Ever Be Re-Legalized?
ANSWER: In my humble opinion, the answer is NO! At least not in our lifetimes, and I will tell you why.

First, most of you have heard of what had is termed, 'The War on Drugs.' However, let's look at some statistics, provided to us by the U.S. Federal Government.^[5]

Estimated number of Methamphetamine users: 356,000

Estimated number of Cocaine users:
Cocaine Hardcore Users (per NHSDA): 445,000
Cocaine Hardcore Users (per NHSDA): 2,155,000
Cocaine Hardcore Users (per DUF): 3,103,000

Estimated number of Heroin users:
Heroin Occasional Users (per NHSDA): 514,000
Heroin Hardcore Users (per DUF): 977,000

Estimated number of Marihuana users: 11,700,000

Now, in case you missed it, the number of illegal Medical Marihuana users is well over eleven and a half million. Even if all the other [so called] illegal drugs were ALL added together, they don't even come anywhere near to that figure. NOW what would happen to the WAR ON DRUGS if Marihuana, in any way shape or form, was taken out of the equation?

At least in my opinion, the whole thing would collapse; what is that expression, 'the whole gig-would-be-up'. Therefore if you want to keep the "War on Drugs" going, you have to prevent the re-legalization of Medical Cannabis ---AT ALL COSTS.

WHY THE WAR ON DRUGS:
Now a question ---Why Does the Government Need the "War On Drugs"? Actually, the real question should have been, why do a lot of people, corporations etc., need the war.

Not just the antique community is affected by the war, lots of people are: In fact they even have a name for it, "The National Drug Enforcement Industries," and believe me, there are big bucks in it. And while this is a subject beyond to topic of this book, still it would be worth-while to go over some examples (but only a few).

THE NATIONAL DRUG ENFORCEMENT INDUSTRIES:
--- There's big bucks in it:

"There's money to be made in stupid laws" --- Science fiction writer Robert Heinlein.

Besides Criminals (and some police officials), numerous other shady individuals have succeeded in making small fortunes out of the Drug War. Communally they have now become known as the 'D.E.I.' or Drug Enforcement Industries, and believe me, there are BIG BUCKS in it. But while the name is new, these guys have been around for a long, long time.

WEED ERADICATION SERVICES:
Starting almost as soon as the anti-Medical Marihuana laws were passed (some say before the ink was even dry), Weed Eradication Notices started going up.

Oshkosh Northwestern June 8, 1939
Essentially the word was out, either hire the local eradication service or else.

DRUG TESTING SERVICES:
Here's an industry that didn't even exist a few years ago, yet is now a multi-billion dollar a year business. For emphasis I'll repeat that, the Drug Testing industry DIDN'T EVEN EXIST some ten or so years ago. Need proof, just take a look at the yellow pages of your local phone book. Look under the word "DRUG," and see how many of those scalawag's are out there. Some ten years or so ago, all you would have found under that word would have been some vague references to look under pharmacy or drugstore.

Now just think of what would happen if the Drug War were to simply STOPPED. Just think of the unemployment that would result?

BIG PHARMA NEEDS BIG PROFITS:
True, at one time, almost ALL Pharmaceutical companies made use of Cannabis, BUT that was then and this is now. What would happen if Medical Marihuana were made Legal tomorrow? Just think of all those patented medicines:

Prozac
Cox-2 (Pain Killing) inhibitors
Anti-nausea Drugs
Marinol
etc.

Cannabis can easily replace all of those drugs (and a whole lot more), and not only that, it can do it a lot safer and cheaper. However, Cannabis does have one big drawback, it's a plant and thus almost impossible to put a patent on. Now, think of those BIG profits, and think what would happen if Cannabis were legal?

Let’s look at just one of the horror stories: MARINOL (a Syntatic form of Medical Cannabis) IS EXPENSIVE, very expensive; In fact there is as much as a 100-to-1 cost ratio between the two. But don’t take my word for it, do the math.

If Legal, a pound of high-quality Medical Marihuana would cost (much less than) $100.oo, which is enough to create 400 ^[11] Cigarettes.

That 15 mg of Marinol, is the equivalent of one-half of a Cannabis cigarette.^[12] Therefore one pound of Cannabis = 800 medical doses, or the equivalent of 27,397-mg of Marinol.

That 20 mg of legal Marinol can costs $1,050 per month or $12,500 per year. [Don’t believe that, I just got back from my local My local Safeway Supper Market/drugstore, which sells 60 pills (10mg each) for a discounted price of $1,400 dollars.

Now at this point, do the rest of the math yourself, and Ought!

The list of DEI benedictory is endless, everything from fake "Drug Abuse Education Programs" to Fake "Drug FORFEITURE auctions. Just remember what Bob Dylan once said:

"Everyday someone new thinks of a new way to take your money away"

Either that or what was it that P.T. Barnum once said: "There's a sucker born every minute"

OK, that's enough, I think you get the picture. The only point I've been trying to make is this:

1- In order to keep the War On Drugs going Medical Cannabis MUST REMAIN against the law.
2- Too many people within the Drug Enforcement Industries depend on it and thus have a financial interest in keeping the War On Drugs going, too many for it to stop.

And if this was not enough, there are yet two more important factors to pander:

1 - LAW ENFORCEMENT:
According to the Drug Policy Foundation (affiliated with the Cato Institute), up to 60% of all criminals in our jails (national, state, local etc.) are there primarily for Drug or drug related offences. AND 23% are serving time SOLELY for simple drug possession.

Additionally, police arrested an estimated 755,187 persons for marijuana violations in 2003, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, released today. The total is the highest ever recorded by the FBI, and comprised 45 percent of all drug arrests in the United States.

One can easily imagine how (just) the prison guard union must feel about the subject.

2 - COURT ACTIONS / INACTIONS:

U.S. Supreme Court Decision, on numerous occasions now, have voted against Medical Marijuana: On June 6, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision which supported the Federal Government's position against "medical marijuana." It is unlikely (given the make-up of the court) that any changes will be forthcoming in the near future.

So no matter what happens, there are those with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Thus my prediction, Cannabis will NOT be Re-Legalized, period and end of story.

FOOTNOTES:
[5]- “What America's Users Spend on Illegal Drugs” 1988-1998 -- Prepared for the Office of National Drug Control Policy Dec. 2000 [Prepared by: Abt Associates, Inc.]
[11]- Here it is assumed that each cigarette is equal in size to a standard tobacco cigarette.
[12]- While far from scientific, this figure is based on the observation that it takes between 5mg-to-15mg of marinol, and between 0.1-to-0.5 of a Medical Cannabis cigarette to give a novice medical patient a slight sense of euphoria. Again, this is far from scientific, however, it does give us a perfect way to compare the equivalent performance between the two. Here, for economic comparisons, the two upper points (15mg = 1/2 cigarette) are used.

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