Felony Friday: Will The Pope Awaken To The Injustices Of Drug Prohibition?
Police in France found illegal drugs in a vehicle with Holy See diplomatic plates this past week. The car belonged to ninety-one-year-old retired Cardinal Jorge Maria Mejia. The cardinal’s private security team had allowed two men to take the car for service.While it is easy to believe the Vatican’s report that the Cardinal had no involvement in the incident, it brings into focus the Pope’s staunch advocacy for drug prohibition. A crime such as this provides a good opportunity to explain how pushing drugs to the black market creates a climate where incidents like this are more likely to occur.Business Insider reports on the crime:
Instead they promptly drove to Spain, where they allegedly bought the cocaine and from there drove into France. They reportedly believed that the car’s diplomatic status would place them above suspicion.But on Sunday they were stopped at a toll station near Chambery in the French Alps, en route back to Italy, where police found the cocaine hidden in suitcases and bags, along with seven ounces of cannabis.They were arrested and will appear in front of a French magistrate on charges of drug trafficking.
Pope Francis has been vocal in his opposition to the decriminalization and legalization of drugs throughout the world. During a trip to Brazil at the end of July Pope Francis said, “A reduction in the spread and influence of drug addiction will not be achieved by a liberalization of drug use, as is currently being proposed in various parts of Latin America.”The Pope’s misguided stance regarding the War on Drugs should not be surprising considering the anti-capitalist and pro-socialist tones that are plainly stated in many of his public addresses. During a formal papal teaching known as an encyclical, which I covered on Lions of Liberty last December, the Pope railed against the “evils” of capitalism.
In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting. To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase. In the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.
Here’s a quick economics lesson for the Pope. The prohibition of drugs introduces risk to the marketplace. This risk is associated with the chance of being charged criminally for executing a sale or being caught with a prohibited product. This risk increase the value of the prohibited substance on the open market and introduces violence that otherwise would not occur if the substances were traded freely. The threat of criminal prosecution forces black market vendors and customers to settle disputes without use of the court system. Unfortunately this often leads individuals to use violence as a resolution.The Pope talks about capitalism stunting opportunity, but this is untrue. Authorities that have been awarded power to enforce laws that are not backed by the consent of the people are the true source exclusion. This exclusion sends nonviolent “criminals” to jail and makes our neighborhoods less safe.Maybe the Pope recently experiencing the collateral damage of drug prohibition will awaken him to the evils of government exclusion.I won’t get my hopes up.For more on the consequences of drug prohibition, check out Marc Clair's interview with Dr. Mark Thornton from the Lions of Liberty Podcast.Check out our past editions of Felony Friday!The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
