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Prohibitionists Never Learn

an open letter to San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins

by Brian Ballard Quass, the Drug War Philosopher

November 8, 2023



The following is in response to today's Tweet by DA Brooke Jenkins calling for a crackdown on "rampant" drug dealing in open air markets. Does she not realize that America has already cracked down to the point that our nation is little more than a penal colony in the eyes of the world? Gee, thanks, prohibition. It's sad to see such a young and apparently bright individual believing so thoroughly in such a hateful policy, one that has ruined the lives of millions of poor people around the globe by entrapment: tempting them with fantastic sums and then turning around and arresting them for taking advantage of the opportunity: the opportunity that prohibition itself has foisted upon them. It's sad to see her supporting a policy that has destroyed the rule of law in Latin America and turned America's inner cities into shooting galleries.


Dear Ms. Jenkins:

I was saddened to see a Tweet in which you announced your determination to crack down on open air drug markets. Do you not realize that these markets are a direct result of prohibition? There was no opioid crisis when opium 1 was legal. People used the drug peaceably in their homes.

It is mindblowing to me that prohibitionists keep blaming "drugs" for the problems that prohibition itself is causing. It is a vicious circle that will never end until responsible people like yourself stop this tail chasing and shout: "Hey, wait, a minute folks, this policy is just not working!!!"

We do not need prohibition, we need RE-legalization 2 of Mother Nature. We do not need incarceration 3 , we need education.











Notes:

1: The Truth About Opium by William H. Brereton DWP (up)
2: “National Coalition for Drug Legalization.” n.d. National Coalition for Drug Legalization. https://www.nationalcoalitionfordruglegalization.org/. (up)
3: Heather Ann Thompson. 2014. The Atlantic. The Atlantic. October 30, 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/10/inner-city-violence-in-the-age-of-mass-incarceration/382154/. (up)




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Ten Tweets

against the hateful war on US




Scientists are making entire livings from trying to figure out what's best for ME as a chronic depressive. They owe their jobs to drug prohibition.

Drug prohibition is a crime against humanity. It is the outlawing of our right to take care of our own health.

Americans have learned nothing but half-truths and lies about cocaine and opium thanks to the total censorship of drug benefits.

When folks die in horse-related accidents, we need to be asking: who sold the victim the horse? We've got to crack down on folks who peddle this junk -- and ban books like Black Beauty that glamorize horse use.

Westerners have "just said no" to pain relief, mood elevation and religious insight.

If opium were legal, then most of the nostrums peddled by drug stores today would be irrelevant. (No wonder the drug war has staying power!)

Drug prohibition represents the biggest power grab by government in human history. It is the state control of pain relief and mental states.

I've been told by many that I should have seen "my doctor" before withdrawing from Effexor. But, A) My doctor got me hooked on the junk in the first place, and, B) That doctor completely ignores the OBVIOUS benefits of indigenous meds and focuses only on theoretical downsides.

We should start taking names. All politicians and government officials who work to keep godsends like psilocybin from the public should be held to account for crimes against humanity when the drug war finally ends.

Two of the biggest promoters of the psychedelic renaissance shuffle their feet when you ask them about substance prohibition. Michael Pollan and Rick Strassman just don't get it: prohibition kills.


Click here to see All Tweets against the hateful War on Us






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Copyright 2026, Brian Ballard Quass Contact: quass@quass.com

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