South Africa: Drug Prohibition Always Fails

Over the past month in Cape Town, South Africa, countless people have referenced the prevalence of violence, the impact of gangsterism, and their own distrust of police employees, but very few have mentioned drug policy as the lynchpin between the three. Yet if one is serious about bringing-about a better reality here on the ground, it is a conversation that must be had.

Merely dictating that a good or service in demand is prohibited will not cease its supply but will drive it underground, which is sure to be accompanied by a host of negative unintended consequences. Violence, to control distribution or to settle disputes, is perhaps the most visible. Corruption, of those tasked with enforcing the proclaimed prohibition, is commonplace.

Also, unless there are two classes of people (masters and slaves) it's important to recognize that such claims - a stranger acting as if s/he and their friends have the right to tell you how you can allocate your scarce resources and what you can do with your own body - are without merit.

Quite simply, prohibition doesn't work.

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RESOURCES USED IN VIDEO ABOVE

Shattered Dreams - South Africa by Journeyman Productions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS5szYuRcUw
Druglords must be jailed for life Ramaphosa by sabcdigitalnews http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0TQ0HM8xyE
Mob justice: cops watch killing by The New Age http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AIRGnIZiEA
PAGAD - the Gangsters Enemy by Journeyman Pictures http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8y61tnfj50
Pagad take aim at gangsters over Ramadaan by eNCAnews http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2BdjevZFlY
South Africa police at crossroads, says Sean Tait by Cop Block http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ereyHxYSMQ
South Africa Police Service Needs to Clean House says Liza Grobler by Cop Block http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU5UA-LVtVI
Counting the Costs of Archaic Drug Policies and Strategies in Southern Africa by Institute for Security Studies http://www.issafrica.org/iss-today/counting-the-costs-of-archaic-drug-policies-and-strategies-in-southern-africa
Crime in South Africa by Nation Master http://www.nationmaster.com/country/sf-south-africa/cri-crime

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