Merely discussing alternatives to drug prohibition is enough to incite threats from state and federal legislators:
After hours of discussion and almost 40 speakers from the public signed up to give their two cents, City Council members near-unanimously said they supported the resolution upon which they voted last week, but were swayed by threats from the El Paso legislative delegation and U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes. … The five Texas House members of the El Paso delegation and Reyes had sent letters to El Paso City Council claiming that the resolution would be used against the city's efforts to secure funding. [Newpapertree.com]
The council finally and reluctantly surrendered, even though all they’d ever done was endorse "an honest, open national debate on ending the prohibition of narcotics." It’s really an incredibly instructive moment in drug policy reform, as I can scarcely recall a moment in which our opponents have appeared so desperate and intimidated by the prospect of discussing changes in our drug policy.
They’ve attacked not only the legalization viewpoint, but our right to be heard. They’ve condemned the fundamental notion that there is a conversation to be had about whether our policies are working. And they’ve done so with righteous hostility, directly threatening to withhold funding from an entire city (from children?) in order to prevent our drug laws from facing scrutiny.
Really, you’ve got to wonder about the health of an idea that can only be defended through threats and distractions such as these. Drug prohibition has had plenty of time to prove itself. Having failed to do so, the drug war’s survival now depends on the ability of its adherents to silence criticism and obstruct dialogue preemptively. It’s an ugly thing to behold.
But let me be perfectly clear about this: I don’t believe for one second that this week’s events in El Paso are indicative of any barrier or threshold that we cannot cross. If our opponents think today’s council vote is a victory for drug prohibition, they are out of their minds. They look like idiots. This whole resolution was nothing before the mayor vetoed it, triggering a weeklong exhibit in the mindblowing intellectual cowardice that underscores opposition to reform at every turn.
Telling us to shut up isn’t going to work, I promise.