Devil's Gifts, Drugs and Alcohol
Wolran Kim (Nov 2010)
Drunkenness is expressed in the Talmud like this: "As a result when a person indulges mildly he becomes sheepish, further indulging makes him feel like a lion. Overindulgence causes him to befoul himself like a pig, and when he becomes roaring drunk he literally ‘makes a monkey of himself’ (Tanḥ. Noaḥ. 14). (Talmud)" So people said that wine is a gift from the demon to humans. Everyone knows about the negative effects of alcohol as in the expression that people drink alcohol at first, and then alcohol drinks people. Alcohol has been in an inseparable relationship with human life from ancient times until modern times such in the Bible, from Noah to the Last Supper.
If we count brewing history roughly 6000 years, the history of prohibition ideas is also as old as the history of brewing. The Congregational Church led The Prohibition Meeting in 1808, and the National Association of Prohibition formed in Boston in 1826. Prohibition was established by law ratified in the Eighteenth Amendment in the U.S. Congress in 1919. It was a measure designed to reduce drinking by eliminating the businesses that manufactured, distributed, and sold alcoholic beverages (History). Congressman Volstead was a drafter, and this law passed by Congress in despite of President Wilson's veto. The prohibition movement's strength grew, especially after the formation of the Anti-Saloon League in 1893, and this law was justified by anticipated reduction of crime, alcoholism, and sabotage, but actually held in check German immigrants who were engaged in the accumulation of wealth by the brewery business.
Also this was influenced by international animosities toward Germany after America entered World War Ⅰ following the violent incident of the British luxury liner Lusitania being torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine. Another cause was the Temperance Movement of Christian fundamentalists who thought free society was a decadent atmosphere around the 1920s church. For political reasons, this was a result of the transfer of power between the fundamentalists and new entrants. That is, Protestants who dominated early American society counterbalanced to Catholics who were the late immigrant peoples from Italy, Portugal, and Ireland.
Richmond P. Hobson, a Representative from Alabama, voiced his support for a prohibition amendment, “To cure this organic disease we must have recourse to the organic law (Hobson).” Percy Andreae, who was one of the most successful spokesmen, as an opponent said, “Prohibition, or that which it implies, is the direct negation of the term self-control. In order to save the small percentage of men who are too weak to resist their animal desires, it aims to put chains on every man, the weak and the strong alike” in "A Glimpse Behind the Mask of Prohibition" (Andreae)
As a result, the hatred for the Germans gave victory to prohibition activists, and brought bankruptcy to brewers who were not related to the war. The Prohibition era came about in this way, but the real effect of the legislation developed in entirely different direction. The pubs increased to 32,000 from 15,000 in New York, and speakeasies opened in rows as if they were mocking prohibition. Al Capone lead a huge Mafia organization that was the manufacture of moonshine, and the gang highly flourished with alcohol smuggling. Numerous murders which aimed at mainstream business interests were raging between gangs, and the roaring 20s were born. Black money from gangs and the fines from people filled the pockets of corrupt police.
Prohibition began to lose strength rapidly when the Great Panic hit the U.S. economy in 1929. President Franklin D. Roosevelt mitigated prohibition after the grievances of brewers and distress of people from economic crisis. Finally Prohibition, which is hard to find in history, was abolished by the 21st Amendment in 1933, and the Prohibition era came to an end after 10 years. Of course, people welcomed the change in a big way. This law gradually disappeared since abstinence was left to each State or local ordinance. Prohibition, which has been suffering and rejoicing together with the history of mankind, maybe started with predestined failure. In other words, except the political effect (political exclusion of late migrants); Prohibition was not useful at all as a policy of criminal law. As a result, it was a rare bad law.
What about the Drug Enforcement after Prohibition eventually disappeared after feeding the power of the Mafia? Doesn’t it also bring up the power of illegal drug production and distribution without decrease in drug addiction? From anciently, alcohol and drugs have substantial identity with negligible differences in human society is pursuit of pleasure and dependence as human instinct. The Netherlands provide drugs and space to addicts to be administered in the country. I really don't know whether drug addicts are being reduced, but, at least, certainly secondary crimes associated with drug would be reduced.
In the 18th century, humanity abused narcotics as treatments for common lung ailments which were a byproduct of the Industrial Revolution in Britain and a tonic. The advent of new types of drugs after illegality brought up the price and transnational criminal organizations such as the Russian Mafia, Cartels, and Triad. The first drug law was the Harrison Narcotics Act in United States in 1914, and this became a typical drug law in all Western countries. The original purpose of this law was expanding the government income sources through regulation of drug distribution used as medical anesthetic drugs (opium, marijuana, methamphetamine, etc.). But it brought moral panic while the government lobbied against the Congress through an exaggerated advertisement of the seriousness of drug crimes and risk. All organizations and institutions tend to expand and increase in size by self-preservation needs; Narcotics also became much bigger than necessary, and it brought more forms of drug offenders to justify the existence of the organization. There is a conspiracy among black college students that Narcotics was made by a white ruling class to interfere a black man's advance in society.
6% of Americans use drugs, and 10 out of 50 States deregulated punishment of possession of marijuana to misdemeanor from felony (Analysis). Of course, legalization of drugs has more negative social issues than positive, and I do not totally agree with it. But a crime of drug use and addiction should be focused on in social support rather than punishment, much like a murder acquitted because of mental illness. Drug law should be generous as much as possible in the range of punishment of general preventive function because possession or use of drugs actually is personal behavior.
Wolran Kim (Nov 2010)
Drunkenness is expressed in the Talmud like this: "As a result when a person indulges mildly he becomes sheepish, further indulging makes him feel like a lion. Overindulgence causes him to befoul himself like a pig, and when he becomes roaring drunk he literally ‘makes a monkey of himself’ (Tanḥ. Noaḥ. 14). (Talmud)" So people said that wine is a gift from the demon to humans. Everyone knows about the negative effects of alcohol as in the expression that people drink alcohol at first, and then alcohol drinks people. Alcohol has been in an inseparable relationship with human life from ancient times until modern times such in the Bible, from Noah to the Last Supper.
If we count brewing history roughly 6000 years, the history of prohibition ideas is also as old as the history of brewing. The Congregational Church led The Prohibition Meeting in 1808, and the National Association of Prohibition formed in Boston in 1826. Prohibition was established by law ratified in the Eighteenth Amendment in the U.S. Congress in 1919. It was a measure designed to reduce drinking by eliminating the businesses that manufactured, distributed, and sold alcoholic beverages (History). Congressman Volstead was a drafter, and this law passed by Congress in despite of President Wilson's veto. The prohibition movement's strength grew, especially after the formation of the Anti-Saloon League in 1893, and this law was justified by anticipated reduction of crime, alcoholism, and sabotage, but actually held in check German immigrants who were engaged in the accumulation of wealth by the brewery business.
Also this was influenced by international animosities toward Germany after America entered World War Ⅰ following the violent incident of the British luxury liner Lusitania being torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine. Another cause was the Temperance Movement of Christian fundamentalists who thought free society was a decadent atmosphere around the 1920s church. For political reasons, this was a result of the transfer of power between the fundamentalists and new entrants. That is, Protestants who dominated early American society counterbalanced to Catholics who were the late immigrant peoples from Italy, Portugal, and Ireland.
Richmond P. Hobson, a Representative from Alabama, voiced his support for a prohibition amendment, “To cure this organic disease we must have recourse to the organic law (Hobson).” Percy Andreae, who was one of the most successful spokesmen, as an opponent said, “Prohibition, or that which it implies, is the direct negation of the term self-control. In order to save the small percentage of men who are too weak to resist their animal desires, it aims to put chains on every man, the weak and the strong alike” in "A Glimpse Behind the Mask of Prohibition" (Andreae)
As a result, the hatred for the Germans gave victory to prohibition activists, and brought bankruptcy to brewers who were not related to the war. The Prohibition era came about in this way, but the real effect of the legislation developed in entirely different direction. The pubs increased to 32,000 from 15,000 in New York, and speakeasies opened in rows as if they were mocking prohibition. Al Capone lead a huge Mafia organization that was the manufacture of moonshine, and the gang highly flourished with alcohol smuggling. Numerous murders which aimed at mainstream business interests were raging between gangs, and the roaring 20s were born. Black money from gangs and the fines from people filled the pockets of corrupt police.
Prohibition began to lose strength rapidly when the Great Panic hit the U.S. economy in 1929. President Franklin D. Roosevelt mitigated prohibition after the grievances of brewers and distress of people from economic crisis. Finally Prohibition, which is hard to find in history, was abolished by the 21st Amendment in 1933, and the Prohibition era came to an end after 10 years. Of course, people welcomed the change in a big way. This law gradually disappeared since abstinence was left to each State or local ordinance. Prohibition, which has been suffering and rejoicing together with the history of mankind, maybe started with predestined failure. In other words, except the political effect (political exclusion of late migrants); Prohibition was not useful at all as a policy of criminal law. As a result, it was a rare bad law.
What about the Drug Enforcement after Prohibition eventually disappeared after feeding the power of the Mafia? Doesn’t it also bring up the power of illegal drug production and distribution without decrease in drug addiction? From anciently, alcohol and drugs have substantial identity with negligible differences in human society is pursuit of pleasure and dependence as human instinct. The Netherlands provide drugs and space to addicts to be administered in the country. I really don't know whether drug addicts are being reduced, but, at least, certainly secondary crimes associated with drug would be reduced.
In the 18th century, humanity abused narcotics as treatments for common lung ailments which were a byproduct of the Industrial Revolution in Britain and a tonic. The advent of new types of drugs after illegality brought up the price and transnational criminal organizations such as the Russian Mafia, Cartels, and Triad. The first drug law was the Harrison Narcotics Act in United States in 1914, and this became a typical drug law in all Western countries. The original purpose of this law was expanding the government income sources through regulation of drug distribution used as medical anesthetic drugs (opium, marijuana, methamphetamine, etc.). But it brought moral panic while the government lobbied against the Congress through an exaggerated advertisement of the seriousness of drug crimes and risk. All organizations and institutions tend to expand and increase in size by self-preservation needs; Narcotics also became much bigger than necessary, and it brought more forms of drug offenders to justify the existence of the organization. There is a conspiracy among black college students that Narcotics was made by a white ruling class to interfere a black man's advance in society.
6% of Americans use drugs, and 10 out of 50 States deregulated punishment of possession of marijuana to misdemeanor from felony (Analysis). Of course, legalization of drugs has more negative social issues than positive, and I do not totally agree with it. But a crime of drug use and addiction should be focused on in social support rather than punishment, much like a murder acquitted because of mental illness. Drug law should be generous as much as possible in the range of punishment of general preventive function because possession or use of drugs actually is personal behavior.