Those who claim that there is no structural racial bigotry within the federal governmental structure simply blind themselves to the war on drugs, the Jim Crow of our time. There is no question but that blacks receive disproportionately higher jail sentence and more stops, searches, abuse, and killings than whites. Yet, knowing this, the federal government and many state governments continue what is arguably the most racially bigoted government program since segregation.
And it’s all wrapped up in the “respectability” of ridding our society of drugs, so that people can no longer do bad things to themselves. Never mind that in a genuinely free society, people have the right to do bad things to themselves. Never mind that the drug war has never succeeded in achieving its goal. Never mind that the drug war is the root cause of drug cartels and the massive violence that comes with them. And never mind that this government program has enabled federal officials to destroy the liberty and privacy of everyone, not just blacks.
Billie Holiday drug war mug shot.
I’m not suggesting, of course, that every judge and every drug-enforcement officer is a racial bigot. But I am saying that some of them are. The drug war attracts the bigots because they know that they will be praised, glorified, and thanked for exercising their racial bigotry in a totally acceptable and “respectable” manner.
What is the solution to this Jim Crow program? No, the solution is not to make it more equitable or by trying to ferret out and get rid of bigoted judges and drug-enforcement officials. The solution is simply to end the war on drugs entirely. That means legalizing all drugs. It means getting government entirely out of the drug-enforcement business. It means a total free market in drugs. It also means pardoning all nonviolent drug offenders, apologizing to them, and expunging their records.
Unfortunately, given the strong statist bent in American society, some of the states that have moved in the right direction with legalization of marijuana have adopted a totally misguided approach to addressing the racial bigotry of the drug war. To make amends to blacks whose lives they have ruined, they have adopted a licensure system that favors granting licenses to sell marijuana to blacks who have been victimized by the drug war. It’s their way of saying, “We are sorry.”
But what business does the state have licensing the sale of anything, including marijuana and other drugs? In a genuinely free society and in a genuinely free-market economy, everyone has the right to sell what one wants to sell. Licensure involves getting permission from the state to sell something. Permission and freedom are opposites. A genuinely free person does’t need to ask for permission to sell something.
The solution to the drug war is simply to end it by repeating all drug laws. That would leave a free market in drugs. A free market means a market that is free of government control, regulation, and management. It means that everyone, including blacks, is free to go into the drug business without seeking the permission of the state.