> The drug prohibition is a direct effect of the lift of alcohol prohibition: officials and LE officers needed something to do after there was no more alcohol smuggling to go after, so a new target was invented.
That's a ridiculous proposition. There was a 40+ year gap between the two.
> The public has been whipped up into a frenzy about drugs for years using various fear tactics
Nixon coined the term "drug war" in 1971. Ever since then, public support for legalizing marijuana has been steadily growing: http://www.gallup.com/poll/1657/illegal-drugs.aspx. I don't think that jives with your theory of causation.
Anslinger was one of the most serious bureaucratic prohibitionists, immediately after its repeal was appointed to commission the agency associated with drug prohibition, did a 180 on all of his positions on Marijuana, and doctored scientific evidence to push for a new enforcement target, since he was given a large powerful agency with very little to do. Without a witch to hunt the witch hunter fades from relevance, so he manufactured one, and that's why we are where we are today.
Not really. Cannabis and narcotics were banned in a big series of regulations between 1906 and 1937 in the USA. That was the first war on drugs. The 2nd came in the early 1980's. recommend reading Johann Hari's "Chasing the Scream" for a definitive history of the war of drug prohibition, especially Harry Anslinger's campaign against Marijuana from 1930-1937, which indeed stemmed significantly from the lift of alcohol prohibition.
What I see in that graph is that Americans get more pro-marijuana as they see the oppressive effects of the out-of-control drug war, overcoming their deference to authority
Also as people learn about the benefits versus the negative aspects through studies showing that there can be benefits under certain circumstances and that its use can be good for some people and that even abuse, compared to other controlled substances, is not that bad.
In other words people have better understanding of the narcotic, its effect and how it can benefit some people.
The 1936 classic "Reefer Madness" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reefer_Madness ) would like a word with you about how all was hunky dory in the world of drugs between Prohibition and Nixon...
That's a ridiculous proposition. There was a 40+ year gap between the two.
> The public has been whipped up into a frenzy about drugs for years using various fear tactics
Nixon coined the term "drug war" in 1971. Ever since then, public support for legalizing marijuana has been steadily growing: http://www.gallup.com/poll/1657/illegal-drugs.aspx. I don't think that jives with your theory of causation.