Dumbest Thing I ever Heard!

A Harvard Professor named, Jeffrey Miron, recently wrote commentary for CNN arguing that Legalizing Drugs will Stop Violence.

In what world?

Although the Professor has some interesting points (e.g., prohibition breeding disrespect for the law but I think this has more to do with institutional discrimination especially targeting specific neighborhoods and groups of people), the majority made me very angry for a number of reasons.

1. Research shows that people in the most distressed situations turn to abusing alcohol and drugs to "ease the pain" of their hardships. The fact the there are a disproportiate number of African-Americans and Latinos enduring hardships leads to an inevitable spike in their abuse of alcohol and drugs. As a professional advocating for change in these types of communities and also as a fellow citizen, legalizing drugs would devastate these communities and add to their ongoing issues that have been present for decades. Do you recall what the boom in crack use did to Black families and neighborhoods in the 80s? Is it not already a problem that there is a liquor store on every street corner in Black neighborhoods. Just image adding hard drugs to the inventory...

2. If all drugs were made legal, we would still need task force to regulate the sale and distribution of these items. A great example of this issue is with alcohol. Colleges across the nation have to continuously deal with underage drinking. Parents are also increasingly unaware of their childrens' behaviors sometimes even at home. Far too often we hear sad stories of teens and young adults dying due to overdosing on drugs; not to mention the alcohol related car accidents that take the lives of innocent commuters. I think this will open up a can of worms!

3. These recreational activities do nothing to help people cope with their real problems. Drugs sugar coats real problems! This includes marijuana (oh I will hear it from some people I know)!

4. Another point, which is one of the most important is the fact that most of the illicit drugs this professor would condone legalizing are deadly. We all know that too much of a good thing is no good at all. Just think about someone who is not familiar at all with drugs and their side effects overdosing.

5. Its an unacceptable argument! Legalizing drugs to stop violence is ridiculous. I would argue that it will only make matters worse and bring drug abuse and crime to another level.

I wonder if this Professor's thinking would be different if he actually grew up in neighborhoods destroyed by drugs. I wonder if this Professor's thinking would be different if he his mother or father were addicted to crack all of his life.

This is another fine example of White Male Privilege.

I am sure I could come up with more reasons or arguements but I just could not wait to write this blog.

This is the dumbest thing I ever heard....