Part one of “Prohibition” a film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick premieres tonight, Sunday October 2nd, on PBS at 8pm (repeats at 10pm). Parts two and three air Monday and Tuesday nights. Without specifically mentioning our failed “war on drugs”, Burns suggests in a recent interview on The Colbert Report that viewers will note many parallels to our current situation. For instance from the above PBS website,
The growth of the illegal liquor trade under Prohibition made criminals of millions of Americans. As the decade progressed, court rooms and jails overflowed, and the legal system failed to keep up. Many defendants in prohibition cases waited over a year to be brought to trial. As the backlog of cases increased, the judicial system turned to the “plea bargain” to clear hundreds of cases at a time, making a it common practice in American jurisprudence for the first time.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (of which I am a member) is an international organization of criminal justice professionals who bear personal witness to the wasteful futility and harms of our current drug policies. We are former cops, federal agents, prosecutors, judges, etc. who have come to the conclusion that prohibition didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now.
Click here to join and receive action alerts, newsletters, updates on LEAP appearances in your area, and the latest current events in drug policy reform. It only took Grandma 13 years to come to her senses — what is taking us so long?! Prohibition does not work.