What the drug war tells us about American capitalism

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What the drug war tells us about American capitalism

why drug warriors should quit while they're behind

by Brian Ballard Quass, the Drug War Philosopher

August 19, 2025

If prohibitionists knew what was good for them, they would give up while they were behind when it comes to the War on Drugs. By persevering in their city-destroying policy of drug prohibition, they are inadvertently reminding Americans like myself of the shortcomings of modern capitalism. Whenever a minority young person is killed in a "no-go" zone created by drug prohibition ¹, whenever the DEA confiscates a property based on the trace presence of a time-honored medicine ², whenever a fascist takes office thanks to the Drug War's mass incarceration ³ of minorities ⁴, we are seeing proof that unbridled capitalism has failed, at least as an economic system that meets the needs of a freedom-loving people. Why? Because any economic system that so easily accommodates the destruction of so many basic democratic freedoms must eventually come to be considered as fundamentally flawed by all serious thinkers, at least the few who still actually believe in the concept of truth as something other than a politically created mirage.

Author's follow-up for September 08, 2025

Author's follow-up for September 28, 2025

Author's follow-up for October 01, 2025

Although I have resided on planet earth for 67 years now, it never occurred to me to criticize capitalism until I began philosophically analyzing drug prohibition seven years ago. In the course of my investigations on this topic, I discovered that the Drug War is supported by the full-court press of incessant propaganda, especially in the form of the ruthless censorship of all beneficial effects of drugs and all harmful effects of drug prohibition. It was just a matter of time before I would come to connect this discovery with the following inconvenient truth: that American capitalism itself DEPENDS on propaganda: it depends on the willful manipulation of consumer viewpoints in such a way as to align them with the financial interests of billionaires. American capitalism is custom-made to support the fearmongering campaigns of billionaires.

This alerted me, in turn, to the existence of a meta problem in America, a problem more fundamental than drug prohibition itself: the fact that Americans are being programmed by the billionaires in our capitalist society into "feeling" a certain way about the world -- and a certain hypocritical way at that when it comes to drugs. Americans have no problems with Jim Beam Bourbon advertisements that target young people on prime-time television and yet they support the censorship of all positive reports of so-called drug use in modern media (failing to realize that alcohol itself is a drug -- one that kills 178,000 a year in America alone ⁵). In other words, propaganda works -- and a freedom-loving people should be worried about that fact.

Of course, we are living in a highly politicized age, an age in which capitalism is either considered to be a religion or a heresy. I should therefore preface any further remarks on these topics by assuring the true believers among us that I believe in the benefits of private property. But it does not follow that I sign off on modern capitalism today as practiced in America. I find rather that America's iteration of that economic policy is deeply flawed -- precisely because it allows self-interested billionaires to control our social narrative through the manipulative use of propaganda. We should never forget that the propaganda practiced by Madison Avenue was first weaponized not by Adam Smith, but by Joseph Goebbels of Nazi Germany.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America made use of the "big lie" of Nazi propaganda in the 1980s by claiming that drugs fry the brain ⁶ -- and they did this in advertisements paid for by us, the very public whom they were seeking to bamboozle with their blatant lies ⁷. And yet I am the only one in the world who has called for the arrest of those advertisers who produced such propaganda in the first place -- at least the surviving members of those ad teams who have profited by the disempowering of Americans when it comes to their erstwhile right to take care of their own healthcare needs as they see fit.

Truth be told, most drugs do the exact opposite of frying the brain. Coca and opium ⁸ and phenethylamines increase neural activity and give the wise user more productive ways of looking at the world. It is drug prohibition that fries the brain, and it does so in the most literal sense of that verb. Our FDA actually sings the praises of brain-frying shock therapy today, while refusing to re-legalize the use of a wide range of inspirational drugs whose use would render that shock therapy unnecessary ⁹! This is the same FDA that would prefer that we commit suicide ¹⁰ than to use substances that inspire and elate ¹¹, which is to say, the kinds of substances that have inspired entire religions and for which our gaslighting ¹² FDA claims to find no positive uses whatsoever.

Seven years ago, I would have said that we live in this world of inverted priorities thanks to drug prohibition. Today, I would say the same thing -- except to point out that our very economic system is designed to produce just such outcomes. How? By empowering self-interested billionaires to control what we think and feel about such topics through the use of propaganda -- propaganda that clearly works, as is demonstrated by the staying power of a prohibition policy that is so obviously wrong. Everyone knows that liquor prohibition first brought machine-gun-fire to American streets ¹³ -- and yet Drug Warriors ignore that lesson -- or else find therein an incentive to create drug prohibition for the express purpose of bringing death and destruction to their perceived political enemies.

CONCLUSION

In the above essay, I have traced the evils of drug prohibition to the shortcomings of American capitalism, especially to its uncritical reliance on the manipulative power of propaganda, not just to "move product" but also to control the social narrative in America in the 21st century. Let me end by reminding the hardcore Capitalist in the audience that I would have no incentive for attacking their religion were it not for the War on Drugs. Why not? Because in a free world, I would have the freedom to transcend the mental and emotional manipulation of billionaire propaganda with the informed use of substances that inspire and elate. In such a world, I could transcend the well-heeled publicists' efforts to make me feel a certain way about the world around me. I could therefore live in peace with a world full of printed, streamed and broadcast propaganda. I could thus make my peace with American capitalism.

In other words, if the true believers dislike my attacks on American capitalism, then they should cease and desist when it comes to the War on Drugs. Give me the freedom to control my own thoughts, to rise above propaganda, and I will cease my attacks on the sort of capitalism that depends on the use of such propaganda.

Until then, it is open season on American capitalism as far as I am concerned. Why? Because of the reasons already stated above: namely, that any economic system that so easily accommodates the destruction of so many basic democratic freedoms must eventually come to be considered as fundamentally flawed by all serious thinkers.

AFTERWORD

I never thought that I would thank Drug Warriors for anything, but their disastrous drug policy does have one upside for me, personally: it has clued me in on the shortcomings of capitalism as practiced in the United States of America.

Speaking of such downsides, I just received a credit-card offer from Bank of America. Guess what the interest rate would be on that card after the introductory period of 18 billing cycles? Go on, guess!

The interest rate will be over 25%. Over 25%!

Not only does American capitalism rely on Nazi propaganda and the big lie... it relies on usury as well!

(What?! You prohibitionists were the ones who got me thinking about the downsides of American capitalism in the first place!!!)

Oh, and did I mention the fact that American capitalism supports monopolies that destroy innovation?

(Want me to pipe down? Just re-legalize my birthright to Mother Nature!!!)

(abolishthedea.com)

You would think that this subject has been covered extensively in our bookstores and libraries, by the way. But you would be wrong. Most non-fiction authors censor themselves when it comes to drugs and so never connect the dots between drug policy and American capitalism. Take George Tyler, for instance. In 2016, he published "Billionaire Democracy: The Hijacking of the American Political System.¹⁴" That's a very promising-sounding title in this context! And yet the reader of that book will search in vain for references to drug prohibition. Tyler fails to note that the unprecedented outlawing of the human being's birthright to Mother Nature was brought about by the billionaires' control of the media. It turns out that the billionaire's power to control our minds through propaganda on this subject is so thorough and effective that it has rendered drug prohibition invisible, even for authors like George for whom the topic is so glaringly relevant.

This is yet another enormous downside to American capitalism: it relies on a kind of propaganda that is hugely effective -- to the point that it causes our best and brightest to censor themselves when it comes to drugs -- so thoroughly that they themselves are not aware of the censorship in question!

One of the rare exceptions to this rule is the 2014 book by Dawn Paley entitled Drug War Capitalism ¹⁵.

Author's Follow-up:

September 08, 2025

picture of clock metaphorically suggesting a follow-up

To get an idea of how billionaires control the narrative when it comes to drugs, think for a moment about all the bars and restaurants in this country that sell alcohol. If the billionaires wanted to demonize alcohol, we would have routine police stops outside of such establishments, with reporters covering the inebriation testing. We would see front page stories screaming out the fact that such dives were turning out legally intoxicated drivers. There would be demands for breathalyzer testing of all bar patrons and casual drinkers at restaurants. Should any pundits demur, the billionaires and politicians would "put a face" on the problem by promoting stories about specific white American young people being needlessly "cut down" in the prime of life by a tipsy driver who had had one too many Bahama Mamas at TGIF Fridays. There would be a documentary about the crisis on "48 Hours." Drinking, in fact, could easily become a huge problem in America -- except that the moneyed interests do not wish it to be a problem.

These are the same moneyed interests who demonize drugs like MDMA ¹⁶ that have never killed anybody -- with the exception of those who die from use because Drug Warriors refuse to teach safe use and regulate drugs. These are the same moneyed interests who profit from ads for Jim Beam Bourbon that are specifically targeted at young people on prime-time television.

Before writing this addendum, I searched online for statistics about the percentage of bar and restaurant patrons who leave such establishments in a state of legal intoxication. And I found no such statistics. None. There are two reasons for this lack of information: First, it is in nobody's financial interest to compile such stats, and second, it is in the interest of the 1% to have us ignore the matter altogether.

But then the job of today's politicians is to make us fear what the billionaire's would like us to fear. Hollywood ¹⁷ is glad to oblige as well: hence the proliferation of childish movies ¹⁸ ¹⁹ like Crack Coon and Meth Gator.

When will we see a movie called Anti-depressant Gator, about a reptile that has been turned into a patient for life by Big Pharma after being placed on Effexor ²⁰ at Sea World -- and has decided to get his own back?

Author's Follow-up:

September 28, 2025

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

1) The fact that Americans cannot be trusted to use drugs wisely tells us far more about America than it does about "drugs."

2) If drug prohibitionists were honest, they would declare the United States to be a Christian Science Republic and be done with it. Then there would be a logical -- albeit tyrannical -- reason for drug prohibition: namely, a theological one. Then we could "vote with our feet" against the criminalization of mind and mood medicine. Instead, beer-swilling nationalists have insisted that the entire world adopt our own stealth Christian Science views with respect to godsend and time-honored medicines!

Such hateful law is based on a host of unspoken tyrannical assumptions about what constitutes the good life, philosophically speaking -- in light of which fact, the silence of academic philosophers on these topics is unconscionable!

Author's Follow-up:

October 01, 2025

The Big Pharma ²¹ ²² antidepressant known as Effexor is impossible to kick for long-term users. At some point during the withdrawal process, one's depression returns with a vengeance, worse than ever. But the real problem I discovered is that I could no longer THINK STRAIGHT after having been off the drug for a few months. My mind was clouded! Only when I used the drug, could I think straight.

In other words, Effexor (Venlafaxine) can never be "kicked" -- thanks to the insidious way that it mucks about with brain chemistry.

Imagine what THIS says about corporate America. It means that these corporations do not scruple in making money in the most immoral way imaginable: by enslaving the very souls of their customers! And this moral turpitude goes double for the lackeys who support them in Congress.

These are the guys who scream about drug dealers -- but drug dealers are saints compared to those who cynically -- and without any remorse whatsoever -- purposefully turn millions into patients for life! And this is a morally bankrupt business model that modern capitalists applaud! Capitalist ideology -- of earnings first -- has hardened their hearts and closed their minds.

NOTE: Pharmaceutical companies take no interest in helping people get off their antidepressant drugs, partly, no doubt, because they know it is impossible to get off such drugs in most cases. But they refuse to manufacture low-dose pills that would be useful in tapering regimes. And they refuse to allow compounding pharmacists to use their trademark extended-release formulations. They have got their customer where they want them, and they are determined to keep them there.

Notes for essay entitled What the drug war tells us about American capitalism: why drug warriors should quit while they're behind:

1: Niomi Russell Killed By Drive-By Shooters In Southeast DC Failla, Zak, Daily Voice, 2024 (up)
2: Miller, Richard L. 1996. Drug Warriors and Their Prey. Praeger. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/594749.Drug_Warriors_and_Their_Prey. (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)
4: How the Drug War gave the 2016 election to Donald Trump DWP (up)
5: CDC. 2024. “Facts About U.S. Deaths from Excessive Alcohol Use.” Alcohol Use. July 8, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/facts-stats/?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/features/excessive-alcohol-deaths.html. (up)
6: Meds fry the brain, not drugs DWP (up)
7: Partnership for a Death Free America DWP (up)
8: The Truth About Opium by William H. Brereton DWP (up)
9: The FDA on ECT: Supporting a Vital Treatment Charles, Kellner MD, 2019 (up)
10: Why Americans Prefer Suicide to Drug Use DWP (up)
11: Suicide and the Drug War DWP (up)
12: The Semmelweis Effect in the War on Drugs DWP (up)
13: Prohibition's Death Toll: Alcohol's Deadly Legacy (up)
14: Billionaire Democracy: The Hijacking of the American Political System Tyler, George R., Pegasus Books, Michigan, 2016 (up)
15: ThriftBooks. 2026. “Drug War Capitalism.” ThriftBooks. 2026. https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/drug-war-capitalism/9217021/?resultid=e8667266-257a-41bf-83e3-78200e3527f3#edition=8539401&idiq=10283063. (up)
16: How the Drug War killed Leah Betts DWP (up)
17: Blast-off for Planet Hypocrisy! DWP (up)
18: Glenn Close but no cigar DWP (up)
19: Running with the torture loving DEA DWP (up)
20: How Drug Prohibition makes it impossible to get off of Effexor and other Big Pharma drugs DWP (up)
21: Seife, Charles. 2012. “Is Drug Research Trustworthy?” Scientific American 307 (6): 56–63. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1212-56. (up)
22: LaMattina, John. n.d. “Why Is Biopharma Paying 75% of the FDA’s Drug Division Budget?” Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2022/09/22/why-is-biopharma-paying-75-of-the-fdas-drug-division-budget/. (up)

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I never said that getting off SSRIs should be done without supervision. If you're on Twitter for medical advice, you're in the wrong place.

Americans are starting to think that psychedelics may be an exception to the rule that drugs are evil -- but drugs have never been evil. The evil resides in how we think, talk and legislate about drugs.

Daily opium use is no more outrageous than daily antidepressant use. In fact, it's less outrageous. It's a time-honored practice and can be stopped with a little effort and ingenuity, whereas it is almost impossible to get off some antidepressants because they alter brain chemistry.

In the age of the Drug War, the Hippocratic Oath has become "First, do no good."

To oppose the Drug War philosophically, one has to highlight its connections to both materialism and the psychiatric pill mill. And that's a problem, because almost everyone is either a Drug Warrior or a materialist these days and has a vested interest in the continuation of the psychiatric pill mill.

This is why "rock stars" use drugs: not just for performance anxiety (which, BTW, is a completely UNDERSTANDABLE reason for drug use), but because they want to fully experience the music, even tho' they may be currently short on money and being hassled by creditors, etc.

Drugs like opium and cocaine should come with the following warning: "Outlawing of this product may result in inner-city gunfire, civil wars overseas, and rigged elections in which drug warriors win office by throwing minorities in jail."

Our tolerance for freedom wanes in proportion as we consider "drugs" to be demonic. This is the dark side behind the new ostensibly comic genre about Cocaine Bears and such. It shows that Americans are superstitious about drugs in a way that Neanderthals would have understood.

Over 45% of traumatic brain injuries are caused by horseback riding (ABC News). Tell your representatives to outlaw horseback riding and make it a federal offence to teach a child how to ride! Brought to you by the Partnership for a Death Free America.

"There has been so much delirious nonsense written about drugs that sane men may well despair of seeing the light." -- Aleister Crowley, from "Essays on Intoxication"

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Unless otherwise indicated, no AI is used in the creation of site content. These essays represent the original ideas of their author and not the ideas that the author SHOULD have based on an algorithmic parsing of existing data. For more on this subject, consider the AI-related viewpoints to which the author subscribes as delineated in the New York Times opinion piece entitled "What 370,000 College Essays Tell Us About A.I.’s Effects on Creativity" by Rebecca Winthrop of the Brookings Institution.

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(up)

What the drug war tells us about American capitalism

why drug warriors should quit while they're behind

Author's Follow-up:

September 08, 2025

Author's Follow-up:

September 28, 2025

Author's Follow-up:

October 01, 2025

Ten Tweets

against the hateful war on US

Break the ice with a sledgehammer: place this book on your coffee table.

Diary of a Drug Fiend