South Africa: Drug Prohibition Always Fails
Channel: Cop Block
Date: 2013-10-05

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