From: atfurman@cup.portal.com (A T Furman)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs,alt.politics.marrou
Subject: Re: Crime and drug legalization
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 92 15:26:08 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)

>He is totally against drug legalization...
>    He claims that crime will not decrease but will simply shift
>in focus.  Crime would shift from drugs to gambling, prostitution or some
>new field.  He claims that the people who are in the drug trade are criminals
>to the bone and will seek a new field if the drug trade become unprofitable. 
>As an example, an under educated, poor, hopeless drug dealer or user from
>south central L. A. is not suddenly going take up compter science because
>drugs are legal. He will instead find a new black market to make money in. 
>    This is an interesting arguement.  I was unable to refute this arguement.
>What is the Libertarian answer to long term crime in the inner cities?

All victimless crime laws contribute to real crime in a multitude of ways:

 - Since the prohibited behavior is a voluntary transaction, the very
   act of arresting violators constitutes the initiation of violence, i.e.
   CRIME.  If you don't believe me, try pulling an Elliott Ness on your
   local liquor store.  You will be charged with assault.  Of course,
   in the 1920's State agents were doing it--does that make it an act of
   virtue?  It does only if you believe that wrong becomes right when the
   majority approve (remember, Hitler was ELECTED to the Reichstag).

 - Claiming that prohibited businesses are a menace because they constitute
   such a high percentage of crime is nothing but an artifact of classifying
   them as "crimes".  Circular logic.  Non-sequitur.  Totally [expletive
   deleted] bogus.  Pass a law that says that putting ketchup on your
   French fries is a crime, and you can "prove" that it is a horrendous
   crime problem.

 - The price of the prohibited goods and services carries a "risk premium"
   far in excess of its cost (or market price without prohibition).  This
   is the "economic rent" that outlaws reap.  There is thus a redistributione 
   of wealth from the law-abiding to the criminal element.

 - A contract is enforceable through the courts ONLY if it is for some
   "lawful object".  If one participant in a black market cheats another,
   the only countermeasure is mob violence.

 - "Might as well hang for a sheep as a lamb".  Since the entire industry
   is illegal, the operators have less to lose by using violence against
   their competitors, or dragging minors into their operation (and getting
   them addicted).  And thanks to the juvenile laws, which clear one's
   criminal record upon reaching majority, teenagers make the ideal
   agents and gofers for the black market operators.

All black markets have these attributes, which is why they all must be
eliminated through legalization.  Your friend has unwittedly called
attention to the level of devastation his viewpoint has inflicted on
society.


    Alan T. Furman         | VOTE LIBERTARIAN!!  Marrou/Lord in 92!!
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  atfurman@cup.portal.sig  |   (800)682-1776 for more information