The Drug War---CUI BONO? (who benefits)?

Keep it simple--Just name, or list parties that BENEFIT from the Drug War.

Don't even address other concerns---JUST LIST THE PARTIES THAT ENJOY
SOME REWARD OR BENEFIT FROM THE DRUG WAR, WHETHER INTENTIONAL OR NOT.


I name:

The Mexican Drug Cartels
and other, similar drug-trafficking groups.

and on and on. The profit to the cartels is considerable, but pales in comparison to the revenue stream generated by privatized prisons alone.

Drug testing companies.

The CIA needs drugs to be illegal in order to finance their clandestine wars. The DEA needs drugs to be illegal because their jobs and very raison d'etre depend on it. The drug task forces need illegal drugs in order to have reason to confiscate people's stuff, including their cash. The Prison industry needs drugs to be illegal to furnish them with an endless supply of clients, Big Pharma wants drugs kept illegal in order to sell to their 'legal' drugs to people, and a whole bunch of people need drugs to be illegal because they can't admit how wrong they've been for so long.

The premise is that it is WE, The People, who are being protected from the
big, bad, evil, verboten drugs.

"The People" are obviously nowhere among those who ***actually benefit***,
as are those parties who are so logically listed above in this thread.

From my OP, "President Obama: Free cannabis ... or get off the pot"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=1232695

"The battlelines are clear, as are the opposing forces. On the side of continued marijuana prohibition are the Mexican drug cartels and their US enablers; juvenile gangs and their criminal mentors; increasingly lawless law enforcement officers and agencies; the prison, pharmaceutical, alcohol and forced substance abuse treatment industries; timid and tone-deaf politicians and the entrenched "drug worrier" bureaucracies including the DEA and the ONDCP. On the side of drug policy reform are the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine, National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute, voters and legislators in 16 states and the District of Columbia (so far) and, most importantly for any political animal, 60-80% of the American people.

"Mr. President, it is no wonder on which side of this war the angels prefer to reside."

Oh, and I shouldn't omit the attorneys. Also from that same piece:

"The following OP is based on a presentation I gave at Vanderbilt University Law School last month as a member of a panel discussing marijuana-related policy. I was honored to be on the panel with Dr. Robert Mikos, a constitutional scholar and member of Vanderbilt's faculty who has published several in-depth papers about the robust conflict between federal marijuana policy and the rapidly emerging contrarian policies of a growing number of states.

"The third panel member, a local defense attorney specializing in marijuana cases, looked and sounded like a gangster from a 50s-era B movie -- $2,000 suit with a diamond stick-pin in his tie, slick, combed back hair -- Gordon Gecko with a Southern drawl. He spent so much time spewing profanity instead of cogency that he left no time for questions, but he did do an excellent job of representing the benefits to the legal profession of our current failed marijuana policites.

"I opened my presentation by saying 'It is an honor to be among so many bright, dedicated attorneys -- current and future members of the bar -- and not have to pay for the privilege.' After the laughter died down, I added: '... and pay and pay....'"