A great many conservatives value the Drug War and maintaining laws against the ownership, production, distribution and use of narcotics. A great many conservatives also value strong border protections and immigration laws.

When President Bush announced his overhaul of US immigration policy yesterday, a common complaint from conservatives (and others) is that granting full or partial amnesty to illegal immigrants provides incentives for others to arrive in America illegally. It gives them additional reasons and benefits to come here. And that's a good sensible arguement. I don't necessarily support it's intended conclusion or goal, but the arguement itself seems logical.

But they don't seem to have made the connection those against the Drug War have made that making something illegal provides an incentive for people to engage in underground business activity. When something is banned and people want to continue using it, it's price goes up. After a point, the rewards of producing and distributing that thing outweigh the risks of getting caught. It's straight economics, very much like the immigration issue.

They say it's wrong to incentivize illegal immigration. But the prohibition of drugs incentivizes their black market activity. I'd like to see someone bust one of these conservatives in this point during a debate and see what they have to say.