Bootlegger-and-Baptist Alert, Reefer Madness Edition
By Peter Klein • Wednesday September 22, 2010 2:28 PM PDT • 7 Comments
Guess who recently donated $10,000 to Public Safety First, a California group lobbying against marijuana decriminalization? The California Beer & Beverage Distributors. The beer guys are, of course, concerned only with public safety. Says a spokesperson for Public Safety First: “Let’s keep in mind the beer and beverage distributors are the folks who deliver beer and beverage products. The truck driver, the forklift drivers, you know, the warehouse workers. You know, these are folks who have traffic safety and employee safety issues, first and foremost.” Beer consumption is, of course, in no way related to things like traffic safety. And who ever heard of substitution effects?
Actually, the Huffington Post item that broke the story is unusually perceptive (for the Huffington Post), noting that Public Safety First is primarily supported by law-enforcement agencies, who stand to lose a major revenue source if marijuana laws are reformed. “Police forces are entitled to keep property seized as part of drug raids and the revenue stream that comes from waging the drug war has become a significant source of support for local law enforcement. Federal and state funding of the drug war is also a significant supplement to local forces’ budgets.” But of course all they really care about is public safety.
Tags: California, Civil Liberties, Criminal Justice, Drugs, Property Rights, The State 
I saw that, too. Absolutely classic case of Bootleggers & Baptists. ;-)
Speedmaster | Sep 23, 2010 | Reply
This could set up an interesting conflict between two sets of parasites: the groups that profit from the ridiculous drug war, and the rest of the public sector that is desperate for revenue. After all, they can’t tax a black market.
Steve Hogan | Sep 23, 2010 | Reply
“After all, they can’t tax a black market.” Then you haven’t heard of Drug Tax Stamp laws.
daddysteve | Sep 24, 2010 | Reply
okay ‘daddysteve’, perhaps is should have said “they can’t COLLECT taxes on the black-market.” After all, having a tax, and being able to collect that tax are to very diffrent things.
Drug tax stamp laws are in effect only so that additional charges can be levied on a drug dealer when he is caught.
joe4liberty | Sep 28, 2010 | Reply
“...law-enforcement agencies...stand to lose a major revenue source if marijuana laws are reformed. ‘Police forces are entitled to keep property seized as part of drug raids and the revenue stream that comes from waging the drug war has become a significant source of support for local law enforcement. Federal and state funding of the drug war is also a significant supplement to local forces’ budgets.’”
Not to mention that the police only have to turn in a small part of the illegal dope seized. Just enough to legally justify confiscating the (independent, non-drug-cartel) drug dealer’s assets. The rest is sold by the police on the existing black market. (NO!!)
Mac | Oct 1, 2010 | Reply