The Laissez Faire books website has a good anti-prohibition article, including a link to the already famous live, on-air quit by one of the TV station talking heads over their staunch opposition to legalization. That particular few minutes is among the best of television this year.

(And Why You Should Fight For it)

Among the questions it asks are, “Why are Americans arrested every 37 seconds and Alaskans every 4.3 hours?”

Thanks to the Internet, we are constantly reading of people who’s terminal cancers are completely cured with cannabis oil and other variations of marijuana-derived medicines anyone could make out of their own garden crops were it not for prohibition.

Every time my mom gets another ‘procedure’ from the dermatologist, I am reminded of how relevant this is to me. I am an a high risk group who would not only love to have an inexpensive herbal alternative, I deserve that choice.

Why is it not widely available?
Why have we not repealed an obviously failed prohibition?
Why do we continue to have 8 times the incarceration rate of the next place finisher in the world?

Well placed “investments” by the pharmaceutical industry is the obvious answer.

 
Top Contributors, 2013-2014

Contributor	Amount
Pfizer Inc	$1,294,040
Amgen Inc	$1,086,314
Merck & Co	$851,725
McKesson Corp	$729,250
ABBOTT LABORATORIES	$682,210
AmerisourceBergen Corp	$638,221
AstraZeneca PLC	$607,933
Sanofi	$597,625
Eli Lilly & Co	$583,300
AbbVie Pharmaceuticals	$566,000
Johnson & Johnson	$555,063
DE Shaw Research	$551,547
GLAXOSMITHKLINE	$518,254
Novartis AG	$467,890
Genentech Inc	$347,645
Allergan Inc	$293,600
Boston Scientific Corp	$291,600
United Therapeautics	$291,550
Ischemix	$287,700
Cardinal Health	$281,590

Contributions to Democrats Republicans Outside Spending Groups

Not content to merely put their puppets in office, they stop by on a regular basis to wine, dine and bribe them on every detail of how they do their senatorial best for their owners. Heck, I think I walk my dog on a longer leash than “our representatives” in the District of Criminals gets.

In case you were wondering how much value that letter to your congressman has, you might consider enclosing a “campaign contribution” of a hundred thousand dollars or so to get it read. Otherwise, don’t be overly surprised if one of the staffers grabs a response out of a drawer with your favorite topic on its identification card and pops it in the mail to you.

Top Lobbying Clients, 2014

Client/Parent	Total
Pharmaceutical Rsrch & Mfrs of America	$8,870,000
Pfizer Inc	$4,810,000
Amgen Inc	$4,510,000
Biotechnology Industry Organization	$4,100,000
Eli Lilly & Co	$4,056,000

Oh yeah, in a related story today:

BEIJING —
China has fined the British pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) $488.8 million (3 billion Yuan) for a “massive bribery network” to get doctors and hospitals to use its products.