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It's not a smoky room conspiracy. A quick google search turned up many articles about private prison companies funding lobbying[1], and I expect you will find

It's not a smoky room conspiracy. A quick google search turned up many articles about private prison companies funding lobbying[1], and I expect you will find similar results if you search for police union donations. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/how-for-profit-prisons-have-become-the-biggest-lobby-no-one-is-talking-about/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/...

skylark 10y ago
While money in politics is certainly an issue which should be fixed, I still think it's disingenuous to say that drugs are illegal simply because parties profit from it. Overall I'd argue that the current state of drug laws is the will of the American people and that corporate efforts to lobby politicians actually falls in line with popular opinion. Again, I'm not necessarily supporting this point of view, I'm only trying to be reasonable.
- mapt 10y ago
  This isn't much conjecture or point of view necessary here on the origin and initial implementation of this moral panic. " “You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” " - John Erlichman, on why he and his boss created The War On Drugs https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/ https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/ "Around 1910, the Mexican Revolution was starting to boil over, and many Mexicans immigrated to the U.S. to escape the conflict. This Mexican population had its own uses for cannabis, and they referred to it as “marihuana.” Not only did they use it for medicinal purposes, but they smoked it recreationally, which was a new concept for white Americans. Even the term, marihuana, was unfamiliar to them, as they called it cannabis. Southern states that were receiving the Mexican immigrants became concerned with this growing population. Newspapers ran headlines speaking of the “Mexican menace” or the “marijuana menace” and claimed Mexican men were going crazy from smoking marijuana and were killing people. El Paso, Texas became the first U.S. city to ban marijuana in 1915, and city officials started rounding up Mexicans who smoked marijuana and had them deported." http://www.salon.com/2015/07/02/the_real_reason_marijuana_is_illegal_in_the_united_states_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2015/07/02/the_real_reason_marijuana_is...
- soundwave106 10y ago
  From my point of view, I do think that it's very possible that many if not most drugs that we are talking about still would be illegal today irregardless of the moral panic. So in a way, you are right about the "will of the people". However, what the moral panic (and its often racist / political dogma as mapt pointed out) created was drug policies that were overly punitive, and even from the user angle often treat rug addiction itself as a criminal problem, not a medical one. Unfortunately, too many "leaders" are too willing to exploit certain sentiments (ranging from outright racism to a mere desire to protect their kids from harm) and create reactive prohibitions that often do more harm then good. Ironically, one of the biggest and most lethal drug addiction epidemics right now in America concerns prescription opioids (such as Oxycontin or fentanyl). Because it is a legally prescribed substance, I find media on this much more sober than the moral panic hysteria articles I remember from 1980s and 1990s media on most illegal drugs. The "emotional bias" for illegal drugs definitely is still around though, and it unfortunately is not entirely rational. One fun example from the other angle: a few years ago, somebody created an overpriced brownie, added melatonin (the same melatonin you can buy at the herbal medicine isle for sleep, that has no LD50 that anyone has figured out yet), and marketed it with "head shop" type graphics for the "head shops" crowd. Cue moral panic here and elsewhere: http://www.nbc12.com/story/14168427/cg-3-linedangers-of-lazy-cakesrichmond12-on-your-side-alert http://www.nbc12.com/story/14168427/cg-3-linedangers-of-lazy...
- ASalazarMX 10y ago
  USA is the country with the highest illegal drug consumption by far, obviously it's not the will of its people.
benologist 10y ago
It's not a conspiracy that people in support of X lobby for more X. That's what lobbying is for. That article you link claims the two biggest offenders have spent $35 million between 1989 and 2015. Google spent $10m in 6 months last year - http://www.wired.com/2015/07/google-facebook-amazon-lobbying/ http://www.wired.com/2015/07/google-facebook-amazon-lobbying.... You can't infer much other than it's not free to promote your ideas to your government.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
stcredzero 10y ago
It's not a smoky room conspiracy It's a marble halls & suits non-conspiracy lobbying thing.
random_upvoter 10y ago
Likewise, a quick google search will show you that the pro-marijuana lobby is a thing. In the upcoming California Legalization ballot the side in favor is outfunding the opposition 45 to 1. The pot industry is already a billion dollar business. So if legalization becomes a fact, will you allow me to conclude that marijuana is legal just because of the lobbying powers of Big Marijuana?
- delazeur 10y ago
  > marijuana is legal just because of the lobbying powers of Big Marijuana I am not making that claim about criminalization, and I would not make that claim about legalization. However: yes, if and when legalization happens I will likely be making cynical comments about marijuana lobbying.

skylark 10y ago

While money in politics is certainly an issue which should be fixed, I still think it's disingenuous to say that drugs are illegal simply because parties profit from it. Overall I'd argue that the current state of drug laws is the will of the American people and that corporate efforts to lobby politicians actually falls in line with popular opinion. Again, I'm not necessarily supporting this point of view, I'm only trying to be reasonable.

mapt 10y ago
This isn't much conjecture or point of view necessary here on the origin and initial implementation of this moral panic. " “You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” " - John Erlichman, on why he and his boss created The War On Drugs https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/ https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/ "Around 1910, the Mexican Revolution was starting to boil over, and many Mexicans immigrated to the U.S. to escape the conflict. This Mexican population had its own uses for cannabis, and they referred to it as “marihuana.” Not only did they use it for medicinal purposes, but they smoked it recreationally, which was a new concept for white Americans. Even the term, marihuana, was unfamiliar to them, as they called it cannabis. Southern states that were receiving the Mexican immigrants became concerned with this growing population. Newspapers ran headlines speaking of the “Mexican menace” or the “marijuana menace” and claimed Mexican men were going crazy from smoking marijuana and were killing people. El Paso, Texas became the first U.S. city to ban marijuana in 1915, and city officials started rounding up Mexicans who smoked marijuana and had them deported." http://www.salon.com/2015/07/02/the_real_reason_marijuana_is_illegal_in_the_united_states_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2015/07/02/the_real_reason_marijuana_is...
soundwave106 10y ago
From my point of view, I do think that it's very possible that many if not most drugs that we are talking about still would be illegal today irregardless of the moral panic. So in a way, you are right about the "will of the people". However, what the moral panic (and its often racist / political dogma as mapt pointed out) created was drug policies that were overly punitive, and even from the user angle often treat rug addiction itself as a criminal problem, not a medical one. Unfortunately, too many "leaders" are too willing to exploit certain sentiments (ranging from outright racism to a mere desire to protect their kids from harm) and create reactive prohibitions that often do more harm then good. Ironically, one of the biggest and most lethal drug addiction epidemics right now in America concerns prescription opioids (such as Oxycontin or fentanyl). Because it is a legally prescribed substance, I find media on this much more sober than the moral panic hysteria articles I remember from 1980s and 1990s media on most illegal drugs. The "emotional bias" for illegal drugs definitely is still around though, and it unfortunately is not entirely rational. One fun example from the other angle: a few years ago, somebody created an overpriced brownie, added melatonin (the same melatonin you can buy at the herbal medicine isle for sleep, that has no LD50 that anyone has figured out yet), and marketed it with "head shop" type graphics for the "head shops" crowd. Cue moral panic here and elsewhere: http://www.nbc12.com/story/14168427/cg-3-linedangers-of-lazy-cakesrichmond12-on-your-side-alert http://www.nbc12.com/story/14168427/cg-3-linedangers-of-lazy...
ASalazarMX 10y ago
USA is the country with the highest illegal drug consumption by far, obviously it's not the will of its people.

benologist 10y ago

It's not a conspiracy that people in support of X lobby for more X. That's what lobbying is for. That article you link claims the two biggest offenders have spent $35 million between 1989 and 2015. Google spent $10m in 6 months last year - http://www.wired.com/2015/07/google-facebook-amazon-lobbying/ http://www.wired.com/2015/07/google-facebook-amazon-lobbying.... You can't infer much other than it's not free to promote your ideas to your government.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

stcredzero 10y ago

It's not a smoky room conspiracy It's a marble halls & suits non-conspiracy lobbying thing.

random_upvoter 10y ago

Likewise, a quick google search will show you that the pro-marijuana lobby is a thing. In the upcoming California Legalization ballot the side in favor is outfunding the opposition 45 to 1. The pot industry is already a billion dollar business. So if legalization becomes a fact, will you allow me to conclude that marijuana is legal just because of the lobbying powers of Big Marijuana?

delazeur 10y ago
> marijuana is legal just because of the lobbying powers of Big Marijuana I am not making that claim about criminalization, and I would not make that claim about legalization. However: yes, if and when legalization happens I will likely be making cynical comments about marijuana lobbying.