War On Drugs

I'm curious to see what a bunch of nontheists' opinions are on the matter.  So what does everyone here think of the war on drugs in the USA?  Is it a worthwhile cause?  What results is it bringing us?  Are we making a dent in drug addiction and drug availability?  Are we keeping kids off of drugs?  Is it constitutional to imprison someone for possession of a substance?  Just some starters.  I'll write what I think here in a bit.

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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanko on January 26, 2011 at 12:15pm
I think the best way to curb the crime and drug addiction is to make drugs legal.  That way they can be regulated and the people who need help can get help.
Permalink Reply by Will Faithless Sophia on January 26, 2011 at 12:29pm

I am totally against the war on drugs, it is not a worthwhile cause. A massive increase in organized crime, gang warfare, waste of state funds, and continued violation of personal freedom is the result. About avaibility and keeping kids off drugs this is a quantitative question by my perception is no. It should be noted that people who lump all drugs together without considering them individually come off as religiously indoctrinated. Regan administration propaganda is not to be underestimated. I have not read the constitution of the USA, so I would not know, but I think people should not be imprisoned for possession of a substance... if it is highly dangerous they should certainly be monitored. Though you can die from having to much Tylenol. Almost anything can be dangerous if used a certain way or without moderation.

 

I think when people think of the war on drugs they think of meth, crack, and heroin. But numerous other useful not so addictive drugs are just banned along with the big three.

 

It should also be noted that kids are actually more 'on' drugs then ever before, just prescription drugs pushed by evil pharmaceutical companies instead of gangsters. The medical system is still stuck in the paradigm of treating the symptoms with drugs that cause worse symptoms instead of attacking the root problems head on.

 

P.S I don't use the word evil lightly.

Permalink Reply by Park Bierbower on January 26, 2011 at 12:29pm
legalize.  regulate. tax.  use the tax money to educate people.  require a prescription or something for harder drugs, just like pharmaceuticals~ that way if someone is addicted, they still have supply, but its not as readily available for those not addicted and they have help weening themselves off of it.  non addictive drugs like pot get sold like tobacco.  (maybe tobacco should be prescriptive) Thats pretty much it.  I see no room for justification the way things are right now.  It exacerbates the problem, its obvious that it does~ it ruins lives, costs people unrelated to the problem money, and benefits virtually no one but the government and the black market.  One of the worst things to happen to american society in my opinion.
Permalink Reply by Sam Jones on January 26, 2011 at 4:50pm
Decriminalization.  No need to ruin someone's entire life over a good time.  I feel the legal age to drink is a bit high as well.  If you are old enough to die for your country and buy smokes, you should be old enough to legally buy alcohol.  We also need laws defining addicts vs criminals.  Addicts need health care not incarceration. 
Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on January 31, 2011 at 9:02pm

The drinking age is too high and the idea that you can go to jail for letting your teenager have a sip of wine in their your own house is ridiculous. According our laws, you should abstain 100% from alcohol and then get alcohol-poisoning drunk as soon as it's your 21st birthday.

 

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by TK on January 26, 2011 at 5:00pm

I'd like to start off by pointing out the fact that we have already been here once in American history.  We have gone through the prohibition of alcohol, and all of the catastrophic results it brought this country and it's people.  We saw the rise of gangsters like Al Capone and other nefarious individuals.  We saw the violence associated with these criminal gangs.  We once already in our history said enough was enough, and legalized, regulated, and taxed an illegal drug.  Was there chaos in the streets?  Absolutely not.

 

I think we need to take a long hard look at the prohibition of alcohol, what it brought us, and ask ourselves if that is what we want today.  I for one, can not uphold an unjust "war on drugs" which in fact is a war on our very own citizens.  The war on drugs does nothing to promote life, liberty, or property.  It in fact is the exact opposite.  It allows the state a vehicle to deprive us of our life, liberty, and property. 

 

Our society already accepts the recreational use of drugs.  We do so with alcohol and tobacco.  Stating that a certain drug is more morally acceptable then another drug, and we should imprison people because they choose to use a different substance recreationally is ludicrous.  This is against the very freedom that we espouse to solove in this country.  It has lead to our country having the highest rate of imprisonment per capita in the industrialized world.  Per capita, we put more people in jail then China, a communist dictator state.  How are we the land of the free?

 

We are fighting a war on criminal organizations who are funded by the very drug policies we have in this country.  If we legalize, regulate, and tax drugs, the profit is removed from criminal organizations and put back into the hands of Americans.  At a time that our country so desperately needs jobs and tax revenue, we have an industry that we are willfully ignoring due to some twisted sense that drugs must be stopped at all costs, even if it means cutting off our own foot.  Think of the jobs the marijuana and hemp industry would create.  We would remove the product from the hands of gangsters, both governmental and street level, and return it to the citizens.  When was the last time that you saw a liquor distributor get in a shoot out over distribution routes?  It doesn't happen anymore, because it's a legal industry. 

 

It's time we start talking about this, and it's time for a change. 

Permalink Reply by Jim DePaulo on February 5, 2011 at 7:11pm

"The drug lords in Mexico pose more of an immediate threat to the security of Americans"

Absolutely, the number of innocent people killed by the Mexican drug cartels simply to terrorize people into submission puts them in league with the worst terrorist on the planet. The amount of time the MSM spends covering the terrorist that live on (and over) our borders is one tenth of the time they spend on the most recent missing blonde, white, teenage girl.
They are well armed (better than the Mexican army), well financed , organized, numerous and have the moral fiber of cockroaches. Those who doubt the killers will spill their violence over the border are dangerously deluded.

Our drug prohibitions fill the coffers of some of the worst terrorist/criminal organizations on earth.

Permalink Reply by Park Bierbower on February 5, 2011 at 8:14pm
(we also helped start the Heroin trade in afghanistan during the Soviet Invasion.  Aren't we so nice? [poppy was virtually unheard of in afghanistan before the 70's])
Permalink Reply by Jim DePaulo on February 6, 2011 at 11:23am
To say nothing of the crack cocaine that financed the Contras and wrought chaos in the inner cities.
Permalink Reply by TK on January 27, 2011 at 12:57pm

I'm curious to see what the President has to say on the topic. 

 

Obama Is Urged To Talk About Drugs

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0111/burning_questions_65e2...

Permalink Reply by Jacob Gladden on January 30, 2011 at 11:29am

Is there anyone here who believes that the majority of Americans likes the war on drugs? It is important to know that if you stand against something that you won't stand alone. I haven't met more than a handful of unenlightened people who believe the war on drugs is moral or smart. Strength in numbers is what wins political battles. We need to be able to get a head count on this issue and publicize it so that we can all see where we stand. After that, legislation will be a no-brainer.

 

Personally, I believe that the war on drugs needs to be fought more like a traditional war on the part of druggies. If there was a more concerted effort on the people's side in dishing out the damage instead of taking it the powers that be would be more hesitant to press the issue. DRUG USERS UNITE!! Protect your brothers and sisters in this war by preemptively striking our enemies!! These drug warriors need to get their doors kicked in a little more often and see how it feels.

Permalink Reply by TK on January 31, 2011 at 8:43pm
While I can see why that would be emotionally vindicating, it's a terrible idea.  There needs to be less violence in this over all situation, not more.  More violence just gives them more excuse to crack down even further.  The whole point is that if it were a legal trade, there would be an astronomically lowering of the violence associated with the drug trade, on all sides.  People solve drug disputes with guns because they can't solve them through the courts.  Once again, you do not see liquor distributors having gun battles in the streets any longer because they can resolve their disputes in a court of law.  They operate in a regulated system where violence is not allowed and will ruin your chance at profit.  In the unregulated black market, violence often times increases your chances at profit.

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