In early October 2007 at the annual gathering of the Trotter Group (African American columnists) at Temple University, Bilal Qayyum of Men United for a Better Philadelphia shared a plan to get 10, 000 African American men to go out into the community to help to take back the streets from the thugs. Qayyum argued that many of the killings are the results of people having problems with conflict resolution and not battles over turfs for illicit drug sales. I worried that this 10, 000 black man movement would be attacking the killing problem with the wrong remedy for I saw the problem as one where people are battling both directly and indirectly over the financial gains associated with the illicit drug business.

As Qayyum spoke my passion was piqued by recalling a media report on two Philadelphia, PA mothers who attempted to get the drug pushers to move away from the corner where their children played. One of these mothers, with six children, was shot to death. A young fellow who attempted to come to the aid of these mothers was also shot to death. The reprehensible deed perpetrated against these mothers is very haunting for it suggests that the thugs have no respect for the law and they fear no consequences for their murderous behavior.

I further worried that the street demonstrations in the past have not stopped the killings. It appeared that once everyone goes home thugs see it as business as usual. These street demonstrations may be intimating that these killings are social ills and they are missing the fact that many of them may be underpinned by business deals going sour. That is, the illicit drug scourge is a business problem requiring a business solution to quell the murderous rampage presently underway.

I had been looking at data on the rise in the murder rate during the U.S. Prohibition epoch from 1920 to 1933 to seek guidance on today’s murderous scourge. Mark Thornton writing for the Cato Institute in July 17, 1991 policy report, Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure, offers an insightful look at the failure of alcohol prohibition. He reports, "National prohibition of alcohol (1920-33) – the ‘noble experiment’ – was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America. The results of that experiment clearly indicate that it was a miserable failure on all counts. . .

"Although consumption of alcohol fell at the beginning of Prohibition, it subsequently increased. Alcohol became more dangerous to consume; crime increased and became ‘organized’; the court and prison systems were stretched to the breaking point; and corruption of public officials was rampant. No measurable gains were made in productivity and or reduced absenteeism. Prohibition removed a significant source of tax revenue and greatly increased government spending. It led many drinkers to switch to opium, marijuana, patent medicines, cocaine, and other dangerous substances that they would have been unlikely to encounter in the absence of Prohibition. . ."

Hence, I could not allow Qayyum to continue without offering an alternative to the direction they were going. I said, as a black Republican it hurts me to recommend the legalization of some drugs with the idea of taking the money out of the drug trade. It was quite obvious that this mindset had been employed with gambling for Power Ball and Mega Millions were paying hundreds of million dollars to winners and taxes and made yesteryear’s numbers man a relic of a by gone era.

Qayyum could not see accepting the legalization of any drug use. He reiterated his argument about the murders being underpinned by people not being able to resolve arguments.

I looked at the murder circumstances as reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation between 2002 and 2006 to gain an appreciation of Qayyum’s position. The average number of murders for the nation is 14,578 per year during 2002—2006. Although "Other arguments (3,705)" is the highest clearly defined category, "Unknown (5,075)" is significantly larger. Some other categories are: Robbery (1,027), Narcotic drug laws (659), Felony type Other—not specified (360), Argument over money (210), Juvenile gang killings (831), and Other than felony type Other—not specified (1,931).

Hence, Qayyum’s position that arguments are the key element in the murders need further refinement because the federal data suggest arguments under gird only approximately 25 percent of the murders. On the other hand, if we combine the other categories mentioned above we can account for approximately 69 percent of the murders.

Therefore, I feel it is disingenuous for local and national politicians seeking to represent the people of the United States of America to not consider legalizing drugs in hopes of stopping the nightly murderous carnage in many inner city neighborhoods. American children should not have to become accustomed to hearing gun shot sounds or hoping they do not become collateral damage in gun fights in their neighborhood.

The Achilles Heel of the drug pusher is they usually are not well educated, so the legalization of some drugs should destroy their money stream leaving them few options. One might expect their overlord persona "street creds" in the neighborhood to dissipate.

History tells us that the Ku Klux Klan and White Citizens Councils once had high street creds in many black communities where they ran roughshod over yesterday’s Black Americans even to the point of committing murders without the fear of prosecution in the white legal system. In a southern city like Memphis, Tennessee, with a history of whites lynching African Americans in yesteryear, do you think today that the Klan or White Citizens Council would attempt to run roughshod over the black community without being met with a countervailing violent force? Today’s street gangsters may find themselves defrocked of their street creds when drug legalization robs their financial prowess. Hence, we might expect the thugs’ present power to morph into weakness where the neighborhood people rise up against these gang bangers.

 Will drug legalization collapse the national murder rate and make the thug persona an endangered species in the Twenty First Century? Should drug legalization be an issue in the 2008 Presidential Debates? I say, "Yes!" and "Yes!"