The comments of the Drug Policy Alliance's Ethan Nadelmann are understandable and cheered by those of us for whom the War on Drugs has been too costly for too long.
It will be up to Nadelmann as well as POTUS and the rest of us to maintain our voices and attention on this issue. The War on Drugs created it's own "Military-
Industrial Complex," which include the Corrections Corporation of America; the GEO Group, Inc,; Cornell Companies; Mid-Atlantic Youth Services Corp, and Community Education Centers. Phil Smith notes in his article on the subject that "Private prisons are a symptom, a response by private capital to the "opportunities" created by society's temper tantrum approach to the problem of criminalit
y." [see:
http://mediafilter.org/mff/prison.html ]
These companies find support with our politicians through groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council, an EXTREMELY effective and vocal advocate [see People for the American Way web page at
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/american-legislative-exchange, and this side dedicated to ALEC:
http://www.alecwatch.org/ ] The private prison industry is also a substantial employer and is able to work through unions as well as through national organizations like The Fraternal Order of Police.
In short, this is a multi-billion dollar industry which won't die quietly, and the people whose self interest it serves will be coming hard and fast.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
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