Predatory Public Finance and the Evolution of the War on Drugs

[TwiceHorn 31703]

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US drug policy has a long history of providing revenue for federal, state, and local governments. Before the War on Drugs, opium and cocaine were legal and medical professionals who prescribed these substances had to pay extra taxes to do so. This chapter explains how, as the federal government began enforcing outright bans on drugs, law enforcement agencies took advantage of their newly acquired authority to profit. Today, civil asset forfeiture related to drug crimes provides officers with incentives to use and abuse their authority and increase their revenue by making more drug arrests. Key takeaways: (1) Drug policy has a long history of providing law enforcement with increased revenues and authority over time. (2) Law enforcement agencies may be targeting the crimes that present the opportunity to raise revenue for their departments rather than the most serious public safety threats.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3173785

 

If you had any doubts about the drug-law-industrial complex, or wanted more details.  We done sold our civic souls out of fear of drugs.

Edited May 13, 2018 by TwiceHorn

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

Well, yes, but to be fair, we didn't have much in the way of souls to start with. Just took a little fear to strip us of the last tiny vestiges.