Prohibition Challenged.

I know that some of you will disagree with me here but I believe that something that is a social problem, (in a lot of cases this simply means that some of us don’t like it) can with the intervention of the dead hand of the state become a social disaster.

Some interesting figures on the various state responses to gun crime come up in the San Francisco Coalition Against Prohibition campaign against Proposition H (handgun control) as follows.

Washington, D.C. has a handgun ban, and is arguably the murder capitol of the USA. Murder is higher now than before the ban. England banned firearms, and crime increased (up to 28% for street robberies; rape and murder have both increased).

From Expatia.

A new organization calling itself the International Coalition Against Prohibition will be officially launched in The Netherlands at the weekend.

The ICAP is opposed to any and all forms of government interference in the lives of ordinary citizens. 


Representatives from 11 countries - the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, France and The Netherlands - will gather in The Netherlands to ratify the articles of association of their coalition.

ICAP believes governments are meddling too much in their citizens' lives, for instance by introducing smoking bans. 



The International Coalition Against Prohibition says it's time for a powerful international countermovement, which will defend citizens' rights to determine their own lives.

From Sad Ireland.

We are hoping to have a number of European organizations present from the hospitality, entertainment and other industries and maybe one or two transatlantic link ups by TV and phone. We intend to send a very clear message to our politicians that we are becoming fed up with the smoking bans and the damage they are causing to many people's lives and livelihoods.

Coupled with coming alcohol prohibition and the damage that that will also cause this should be a very animated summit. Lastly, add to that the formulation of an international coalition and we should put in place an organization which is going to become very strong and powerful indeed!

Another site I came across in researching this was “Law Enforcement Against Prohibition” who campaign strongly against the war on drugs, as can be seen in the following clip, which at 13 minutes is long but if you have the time will offer some interesting insights.


The following comes from a recent post by them.

Prohibition gives the criminal all the control: he sets the standard, establishes the rules and reaps the rewards. A wealthy drug lord who makes a show of public generosity gains more respect from the common man than the police officer trying to shut the operation down, no matter how despicable the criminal may be.

Capone and Escobar gained unimaginable wealth and power because of prohibition, not in spite of it. Without a ban on alcohol or drugs, they would never have had the opportunity to take control.

Ending prohibition and beginning a system of regulation and taxation takes away the criminal’s power. He no longer makes the rules. As the regulation and taxation of alcohol ended bootlegging, so will the end of drug prohibition end the illegal drug trade.

Today, drugs are illegal, they are out of control, and they are everywhere. If they were managed in the way that alcohol is now managed, they would be under control. Instead of criminals getting richer, violence escalating, and drug-related deaths on the rise, we would live under a system of established pricing, peaceful purchase, and a regulated labeling system that would clearly list important information such as purity and dosage.

Would there still be cases of overdose and addiction? Yes. But those are problems now, and a system of regulation would only decrease those instances. Prohibition is a false sense of control for the government. As Capone was in control during the prohibition of alcohol and Escobar was in control of the illegal drug trade in his time, so are the dealers in control under prohibition today.