International Ecstasy Ring Broken Up - Incentives to Sell it Never Higher.
Some big news today - Authorities have declared a major "victory" in the war on drugs, breaking up a ring of ecstasy dealers. I can't help but a feel a little disgusted. My attitudes towards drugs mirror my attitudes towards organized religion. They are addictive, cause personality distortions and possible loss of economic production, yet should be tolerated to the point that they don't encourage people to attack each other. Ecstasy is a drug that makes people want back-massages and pacifiers, not brass knuckles, so I have difficulty seeing the point behind this police effort which will serve mainly to increase the incentives for new thugs to enter the market, and existing dealers to expand their production.