TED演讲 第15期:为什么我们应该终止禁毒战争(1)

 What has the War on Drugs done to the world?  毒品战争对世界有什么影响？

Look at the murder and mayhem in Mexico, Central America, so many other parts of the planet,  看看那些发生在墨西哥、中美洲，和世界其他地方的谋杀和混乱

the global black market estimated at 300 billion dollars a year,prisons packed in the United States and elsewhere,  看看全球每年约3000亿美元的黑市交易看看美国和其他地方那些人满为患的监狱，

police and military drawn¹ into an unwinnable war that violates basic rights, and ordinary citizens,   大量的警察和军队被牵扯进这场永远打不赢、而且侵犯基本人权的战争,

just hope they don't get caught in the crossfire², and meanwhile, more people using more drugs than ever. 还有那些无辜的平民，乞求着不要被卷入剿毒行动的交火中，与此同时，吸毒的人却越来越多。

It's my country's history with alcohol prohibition³ and Al Capone, times 50.  这就像我的国家历史上的禁酒令和艾尔卡彭的50倍规模重演。

Which is why it's particularly galling⁴ to me as an American that we've been the driving force behind this global drug war. 令我感到难堪的是，我们美国人就是这个全球反毒战争的幕后推手。

Ask why so many countries criminalize drugs they'd never heard of,  去问问为什么那么多国家把他们听都没听过的药物列为非法，

why the U.N. drug treaties emphasize criminalization over health,  为什么联合国的药物条约强调刑事定罪超过人们的健康？

even why most of the money worldwide for dealing⁵ with drug abuse goes not to helping⁶ agencies but those that punish,  甚至为什么全世界大部分解决药物滥用的资金都不用在研究改善药物的机构而是用于惩罚药物滥用，

and you'll find the good old U.S. of A. Why did we do this?  你会发现它们的答案就是—我们大美国。我们为什么这样做？

Some people, especially in Latin America, think it's not really about drugs.  有些人，尤其是拉丁美洲的人，认为这并不是真的关乎毒品。

It's just a subterfuge⁷ for advancing the realpolitik interests of the U.S. But by and large, that's not it.  事实上这只是美国用来推进政治利益的托词。但总的来说，又不完全是这样。

We don't want gangsters⁸ and guerrillas funded with illegal drug money terrorizing and taking over other nations.  我们确实不希望，有黑帮和游击队有来自非法毒品的资金支持去恐吓和接管其他国家。

No, the fact is, America really is crazy when it comes to drugs. 但，事实是，美国就像疯了一样一旦谈到毒品，或者药物。

I mean, don't forget, we're the ones who thought that we could prohibit alcohol.  我的意思是，不要忘了，我们就是那些以为自己可以禁酒的人。

So think about our global drug war not as any sort of rational policy,  所以，不要把全球禁毒战争想成是一个理性的政策，

but as the international projection⁹ of a domestic psychosis. But here's the good news. 而要把它想成是一个国家的精神病延伸到了国际上。但这里还有个好消息。

Now it's the Russians leading the Drug War and not us.  现在是俄罗斯在领导禁毒战争，而不是我们。

Most politicians in my country want to roll back the Drug War now, put fewer people behind bars, not more,  我们国家的大多数政客现在想从禁毒战争里退一步回来，让更少的人被卷入这场战争，而不是更多，

and I'm proud to say as an American that we now lead the world in reforming marijuana policies.  我可以很自豪地说，作为一个美国人我们现在正领导世界改革大麻政策。

It's now legal for medical purposes in almost half our 50 states,  现在只要是在合法的医疗目的下美国50个州里几乎一半的民众，

millions of people can purchase their marijuana, their medicine, in government- licensed¹⁰ dispensaries,  数以百万计的人都可以，从政府许可的药店里买到他们的大麻—他们的药物，

and over half my fellow citizens now say it's time to legally regulate and tax marijuana more or less like alcohol.  还有超过一半的同胞们说，现在是时候立法规范大麻和对其征税就跟我们对酒水做的事一样。

That's what Colorado and Washington are doing, and Uruguay, and others are sure to follow.  这正是科罗拉多州和华盛顿正在做的，还有乌拉圭，可以肯定其他地方也会跟着这么做。

So that's what I do: work to end the Drug War.  所以，这就是我在做的事：致力于结束禁毒战争。

I think it all started growing up in a fairly religious, moral family, eldest¹¹ son of a rabbi,  我想，这一切是由于我成长在一个比较笃信宗教和注重道德的家庭，作为一个犹太教教士的长子，

going off to university where I smoked some marijuana and I liked it. 当我去上大学时，我抽了一些大麻而且很喜欢。

1 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

2 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

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 galling   

adj.难堪的,使烦恼的,使焦躁的

参考例句：

• It was galling to have to apologize to a man she hated. 令人恼火的是得向她憎恶的男人道歉。
• The insolence in the fellow's eye was galling. 这家伙的傲慢目光令人恼怒。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 subterfuge   

n.诡计；藉口

参考例句：

• European carping over the phraseology represented a mixture of hypocrisy and subterfuge.欧洲在措词上找岔子的做法既虚伪又狡诈。
• The Independents tried hard to swallow the wretched subterfuge.独立党的党员们硬着头皮想把这一拙劣的托词信以为真。

8 gangsters   

匪徒，歹徒( gangster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gangsters offered him a sum equivalent to a whole year's earnings. 歹徒提出要给他一笔相当于他一年收入的钱。
• One of the gangsters was caught by the police. 歹徒之一被警察逮捕。

9 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

10 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

11 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。