TheOldGuy
Well-Known Member
Just like with alcohol, marijuana use declined for a period of time after the ban, but quickly rised to higher percentages than pre-prohibition soon thereafter. The immediate decrease is a result of the legal suppliers being taken away and leaving consumers with no source of goods. As soon as the illegal market has time to organize, service comes back in swing, without government supervision or benefits. Illegal markets are organized and operated by gangs (a group of people commited to acting out illegal activities). In order for gangs to protect themselves from the government, they can not use the goverment to their benefit for security. The only security that can be provided for them, must come from themselves by buying and using guns sold to them in the illegal gun market. Guns used during illegal practices often become used to murder people, whether it be in aggression or defense.
To recap:
Prohibition> Black Market> Gangs> Guns> Murder
Alcohol was prohibited between 1920 and 1933
Marijuana was prohibited in 1937.
Anti-prohibition movements begame popularized in the mid-sixties, and thus following, so did marijuana arrests, eventually leading to a counter-movement action by President Nixon called The Drug War in 1970
In reading the attached Murder chart, please note the sharp decline in murder in 1933, the year that the 21st amendment repealed alcohol prohibition.
Please notice the incline as the government fought marijuana harder and harder.
Also, notice the sharp changes taking place in the 80's when the anti-drug movement makes its way to the media, like in Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" program that began in 1986. 1986 is located at the beginning of the last large incline in murders
I have attached another chart that shows Incarceration rates between 1910 and 1997. Please compare them to the murder rates.
Note that while the highest peaks on the Per Capita Murder Rate during the 20's and during the last quarter of this century are comparitively equal, the incarceration rate peaks from those same two time periods do not even even begin to compare.
10% of those incarcerated today are under penalty for marijuana-related charges. 80% of them (8% in all) are for possession alone. That translates to roughly 200,000 inmates for marijuana, 140,000 of which are for possession.
If you're still with me, because I am kinda high at the moment, the conclusion of this information tells us that the more people have been incarcerated for laws relating to prohibition, the higher the risks (from the feds or other gangs) are in the illegal market, and therfore the more guns are needed in that market, and then then more people end up getting murdered, and the statistics back that theory up.
Prohibition> Incarceration> Illegal market> Gangs> Risk> Guns> Murder.
Eliminate prohibition, and the dominos fall in a different direction.
The change: No prohibition> No incarceration> Legal Market> No gangs> No risk> No guns> No murder
(as related to marijuana)
The result: No prohibition> Legal market> Opporunity> Jobs
To recap:
Prohibition> Black Market> Gangs> Guns> Murder
Alcohol was prohibited between 1920 and 1933
Marijuana was prohibited in 1937.
Anti-prohibition movements begame popularized in the mid-sixties, and thus following, so did marijuana arrests, eventually leading to a counter-movement action by President Nixon called The Drug War in 1970
In reading the attached Murder chart, please note the sharp decline in murder in 1933, the year that the 21st amendment repealed alcohol prohibition.
Please notice the incline as the government fought marijuana harder and harder.
Also, notice the sharp changes taking place in the 80's when the anti-drug movement makes its way to the media, like in Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" program that began in 1986. 1986 is located at the beginning of the last large incline in murders
I have attached another chart that shows Incarceration rates between 1910 and 1997. Please compare them to the murder rates.
Note that while the highest peaks on the Per Capita Murder Rate during the 20's and during the last quarter of this century are comparitively equal, the incarceration rate peaks from those same two time periods do not even even begin to compare.
10% of those incarcerated today are under penalty for marijuana-related charges. 80% of them (8% in all) are for possession alone. That translates to roughly 200,000 inmates for marijuana, 140,000 of which are for possession.
If you're still with me, because I am kinda high at the moment, the conclusion of this information tells us that the more people have been incarcerated for laws relating to prohibition, the higher the risks (from the feds or other gangs) are in the illegal market, and therfore the more guns are needed in that market, and then then more people end up getting murdered, and the statistics back that theory up.
Prohibition> Incarceration> Illegal market> Gangs> Risk> Guns> Murder.
Eliminate prohibition, and the dominos fall in a different direction.
The change: No prohibition> No incarceration> Legal Market> No gangs> No risk> No guns> No murder
(as related to marijuana)
The result: No prohibition> Legal market> Opporunity> Jobs
