… is from page 98 of Robert Higgs’s 2004 volume, Against Leviathan (footnote excluded):
And make no mistake: the politicians know a good deal when they stumble into one. Large majorities of voters continue to support the attack on drug users and dealers, notwithstanding the soaring costs of imprisoning more and more people. Says James Alan Fox, dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University, “For politicians, the drug debate is driven by the three R’s – retribution, revenge, retaliation – and that leads to the fourth R, reelection.” Never underestimate the capacity of the American public to cough up money for drum-beating politicians to squander in righteous and futile assaults on sin.
