#prohibition

Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water. ↗

— W. C. Fields

#days #during #forced #i #live

The accession of not one but three illegal drug users in a row to the US presidency constitutes an existential challenge to the prohibitionist regime. The fact that some of the most successful people of our time, be it in business, finances, politics, entertainment or the arts, are current or former substance users is a fundamental refutation of its premises and a stinging rebuttal of its rationale. A criminal law that is broken at least once by 50% of the adult population and that is broken on a regular basis by 20% of the same adult population is a broken law, a fatally flawed law. How can a democratic government justify a law that is consistently broken by a substantial minority of the population? What we are witnessing here is a massive case of civil disobedience not seen since alcohol prohibition in the 1930 in the US. On what basis can a democratic system justify the stigmatization and discrimination of a strong minority of as much as 20% of its population? ↗

— Jeffrey Dhywood

#bill-clinton #drug-policy-reform #g-w-bush #prohibitionism #war-on-drugs

Federal and state laws (should) be changed to no longer make it a crime to possess marijuana for private use. ↗

— Richard M. Nixon

#drugs #law #marijuana #prohibition #change

The legalization of marijuana is not a dangerous experiment – the prohibition is the experiment, and it has failed dramatically, with millions of victims all around the world. ↗

— Sebastian Marincolo

#drug #drug-policy #drugs #legalization #marihuana

A different day. – Even if the experiment of Biblical times supported the argument that it is the abuse of light wines and beer, not their use, which is reprehensible, we must remember that we are dealing with a modern problem. In the time of Jesus in Palestine filth that is now disposed of through modern sewerage systems was tossed from the windows into the street. Shallow wells spread disease, and water was considered positively dangerous, as it to-day in some countries where similar social conditions exist. It may be that to run the risk of typhoid by drinking water contaminated by filth; but to-day in America pure water may be had in abundance.(1926) ↗

— Deets Pickett

#experience

For every prohibition you create, you also create an underground. ↗

— Jello Biafra

#create #every #prohibition #underground #you

We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don't. There is no middle ground. ↗

— Leon Panetta

#cruel #dignity #either #ground #individual

In early January I introduced my legislation, which, besides prohibiting Federal funding of human cloning, also expresses the sense of Congress that foreign nations should establish total prohibition on human cloning as well. ↗

— Cliff Stearns

#besides #cloning #congress #early #establish

Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could. ↗

— William F. Buckley, Jr.

#could #done #even #ever #every

The amount of money and of legal energy being given to prosecute hundreds of thousands of Americans who are caught with a few ounces of marijuana in their jeans simply makes no sense - the kindest way to put it. A sterner way to put it is that it is an outrage, an imposition on basic civil liberties and on the reasonable expenditure of social energy. ↗

— William F. Buckley

#civil-rights #drug-laws #drugs #marijuana #prohibition