TED演讲 第17期:为什么我们应该终止禁毒战争(3)

 But when hundreds of thousands of Chinese started showing up in my country, 但是，当成千上万的中国人开始出现在我的国家,

working hard on the railroads and the mines and then kicking back in the evening just like they had in the old country, 在铁路和矿山上卖力工,然后晚上放松一下，就像他们在故乡常做的那样，

with a few puffs¹ on that opium² pipe, that's when you saw the first drug prohibition³ laws in California and Nevada,  吸上几口大烟，这就是你所见到的第一条禁毒法令出现在加利福尼亚州和内华达州,

driven by racist⁴ fears of Chinese transforming white women into opium-addicted sex slaves. 因为那些有种族歧视的人担心中国人会把白人妇女变成鸦片成瘾的性奴。

The first cocaine⁵ prohibition laws, similarly prompted,by racist fears of black men sniffing⁶ that white powder,  而第一条禁止可卡因的法律，也是由那些种族歧视的人提出的,

and forgetting their proper place in Southern society.  他们怕黑人闻了那白色粉末之后会忘记自己在南方社会里真正的位置。

And the first marijuana prohibition laws, all about fears of Mexican migrants in the West and the Southwest.  还有第一条禁止大麻的法律，同样是源于对西部和西南部地区墨西哥移民的恐惧。

And what was true in my country, is true in so many others as well, with both the origins of these laws and their implementation⁷.  这就是发生在我们国家真相,相信在很多别的地方也同样如此,那些法律的起源和它们的执行。

Put it this way, and I exaggerate only slightly:  换句话说，让我稍稍夸大一点，

If the principal smokers⁸ of cocaine were affluent⁹ older white men and the principal consumers of Viagra were poor young black men,  如果可卡因的主要吸食者都是些有钱的白人老头而伟哥的主要消费者都是些贫穷年轻的黑人男子,

then smokable cocaine would be easy to get with a prescription¹⁰ from your doctor,  那么，你将很容易地拿着医生的处方买到烟用可卡因,

and selling Viagra would get you five to 10 years behind bars.  而出售伟哥会让你在牢里待上5到10年。

I used to be a professor teaching about this.  我曾是个教这方面知识的教授.

Now I'm an activist¹¹, a human rights activist,  但现在，我是一个行动者，一名人权运动的积极分子,

and what drives me is my shame at living in an otherwise great nation, 而背后驱动我的力量，是我的惭愧,我生活在一个原本很伟大的国家,

that has less than five percent of the world's population, 它有着不到世界5％的人口,

but almost 25 percent of the world's incarcerated¹² population.  监狱里却关着占世界总数25%的犯人。

It's the people I meet who have lost someone they love to drug-related violence or prison,or overdose or AIDS. 我遇到这样的人：他们曾因为与毒品有关的暴力事件、监禁、吸食过量或艾滋病，而失去了他们所爱的人。

because our drug policies emphasize criminalization over health.  这都是因为我们的毒品政策它们强调刑责超过人们健康。

It's good people who have lost their jobs,  他们是好人，他们失去了工作、

their homes, their freedom, even their children to the state, not because they hurt anyone 房子、自由、甚至他们的孩子到了这般田地，不是因为他们伤害了谁，

but solely¹³ because they chose to use one drug instead of another. So is legalization the answer?  而仅仅是因为他们选择了某一种药物，而不是另一种。所以，“合法化”是我们寻找的答案吗？

On that, I'm torn: three days a week I think yes, three days a week I think no, and on Sundays I'm agnostic.  关于这一点，我非常为难：每周有三天里我觉得是这样的，还有三天我觉得不是，然后在周末，我是不可知论者。

But since today is Tuesday,  但既然今天是星期二，

let me just say that legally regulating and taxing most of the drugs that are now criminalized, 就让我说：只要合法地管制并对其征税大多数现在被列为非法的精神药物，

would radically¹⁴ reduce the crime, violence, corruption¹⁵ and black markets,  会显著地减少犯罪、暴力、贪污、黑市、

and the problems of adulterated and unregulated drugs, and improve public safety,  以及掺假和不受管制的药物问题，并且提高公共安全，

and allow taxpayer¹⁶ resources to be developed to more useful purposes.  还能使纳税人的资源被投入到更有用的地方。

I mean, look, the markets in marijuana, cocaine,  我的意思是，你看，大麻、可卡因、

heroin¹⁷ and methamphetamine are global commodities markets just like the global markets in alcohol, tobacco,  海洛因和甲基苯丙胺的市场，是全球性的商品市场就跟全球的酒精、烟草、

coffee, sugar, and so many other things.  咖啡、糖、以及许多其他的市场一样。

Where there is a demand, there will be a supply. Knock out one source and another inevitably¹⁸ emerges.  只要哪里有需求，哪里就会有供应。消灭了一个源头，另一个源头还是会不可避免地出现。

1 puffs   

n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
• Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句

2 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

3 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

4 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

5 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

6 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

8 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

9 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

10 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

11 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

12 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

13 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

14 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

15 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

16 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

17 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

18 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。