Ending the War on Drugs...

[chefmike]

...if only...what an enormous waste of money and young lives....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/ending-the-war-on-drugs-t_b_203768.html

[phobun]

...if only...what an enormous waste of money and young lives....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/ending-the-war-on-drugs-t_b_203768.html

Dude, are you going Ron Paul (http://www.ronpaul.com/2009-04-15/ron-paul-the-war-on-drugs-has-failed/) on us?

[chefmike]

Not bloody likely. But if Paul happens to agree with myself and others on how ridiculous drug laws are then so be it.

[youcancallmeclaire]

Why wasn't I informed that there was a war declared on me?

[El Nino]

Oh that Ron Paul, he is just so Kooky!

[phobun]

Oh that Ron Paul, he is just so Kooky!

Many of his followers are the real kooks.

[Silcc69]

LOL Ron Paul..........

[kittyKaiti]

The last thing we need in this ruined nation is a country full of drug addicts. Stop fighting the war on drugs and suddenly everyone is a meth addict or crack whore and that will single handedly eradicate this country. Drugs are bad enough with a war going on. Imagine no fight against it at all.

[TommyFoxtrot]

...if only...what an enormous waste of money and young lives....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/ending-the-war-on-drugs-t_b_203768.html

I don't know what to do about it. When drugs WERE legal, we had a terrible opiate epidemic.

[phobun]

...if only...what an enormous waste of money and young lives....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/ending-the-war-on-drugs-t_b_203768.html

I don't know what to do about it. When drugs WERE legal, we had a terrible opiate epidemic.

I'm not convinced it is better now, just in another form. So many people abuse, or have become dependent on, Vicodin, Fentanyl or related drugs, and even Rush Limbaugh got hooked. And this has occurred in spite of these drugs being illegal to use without a prescription.

[TommyFoxtrot]

...if only...what an enormous waste of money and young lives....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/ending-the-war-on-drugs-t_b_203768.html

I don't know what to do about it. When drugs WERE legal, we had a terrible opiate epidemic.

I'm not convinced it is better now, just in another form. So many people abuse, or have become dependent on, Vicodin, Fentanyl or related drugs, and even Rush Limbaugh got hooked. And this has occurred in spite of these drugs being illegal to use without a prescription.

Yeah and to think many of these folks are hooked on things they have a Prescription to posses. What's going to happen with legal Coke and Heroin and even Marijuana. I would be freaked out with the sudden increase in stoned drivers.

[Kramer]

No mandatory minimum sentencing? WTF???

Obama and Holder? It figures!

[Nowhere]

...if only...what an enormous waste of money and young lives....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/ending-the-war-on-drugs-t_b_203768.html

I don't know what to do about it. When drugs WERE legal, we had a terrible opiate epidemic.

I'm not convinced it is better now, just in another form. So many people abuse, or have become dependent on, Vicodin, Fentanyl or related drugs, and even Rush Limbaugh got hooked. And this has occurred in spite of these drugs being illegal to use without a prescription.

Yeah and to think many of these folks are hooked on things they have a Prescription to posses. What's going to happen with legal Coke and Heroin and even Marijuana. I would be freaked out with the sudden increase in stoned drivers.

People keep on forgetting about human nature. Almost all the people who want to take them ARE already taking them, and the majority of people who aren't, won't, if it's legal.

Does everyone drink themselves into oblivion because alcohol is legal?

No, because they want to be able to actually have a life.

I don't understand how people who weren't would suddenly become addicts because a different drug is legal (remember alcohol is a drug, guys). Those who are going to become addicts will find a way, somehow, either through illegal or prescription drugs, or hell, even food or sex.

The legality doesn't change the behavior of everyone, and alcohol is a perfect proof of it, as in the lack of increase in crime related to pot smoking in states where they have it as "medicinal."

Your worries are founded on nothing.

Personally, I think we're going to be forced to do it, if it's not done soon. Due to the drugs not being sold through legal means, 100% of the profits are going to Mexican cartels, and they're getting so powerful, we're going to eventually have to use our militia to deal with it. And, where does that power come from? A market that delivered to them on a silver platter.

Why do you think Al Capone got so powerful? Hmm?

When will people learn that prohibition automatically makes organized crime ungodly rich, since only unscrupulous people deal in a market that is marked as criminal?

I know many people don't want to hear it, but drug use is a part of human nature, because ESCAPE is part of human nature. We get a high when we get an orgasm. We get a buzz from eating food. So, of course, some people going to seek it elsewhere. And, no 'war on drugs' will EVER stop that element of human nature.

So, you have the choice to live in denial of the truth and hand criminals a fortune of money on a silver platter or put it in more scrupulous people's hands and maybe even get taxes from it. It should be clear as day that what we're doing is not working by now, so putting your blinders on why it's occuring and just cranking it up won't help us, and we better work on "Plan B."

[hippifried]

The idea that drug laws are any kind of deterrant at all is a fairy tale. There's not one whit of evidence that more people would do drugs if the laws disappear. It's a spurious argument at best.

[tstv_lover]

Interesting article with an intriguing final para:

With three-quarters of the drug offenders clogging our state prisons there for nonviolent offenses -- and a disproportionate number of those young men of color -- the time has come to wage a full-scale war on the war on drugs.

What is it with this "War on.." slogan? Sounds like marketing hype gone mad.

From an outsiders perspective it seems that wars only produce casualties - and the "war on drugs" has produced many. Isn't it better to focus on treating the casualties rather than incarcerating more? Of course it's critical to remain focussed on stopping the production and distribution of drugs, but if jailing the victims isn't working then try the treatment approach.

[Dino Velvet]

As a fairly Conservative guy who voted for McCain once and Dubya twice, I'm all for the legalization of marijuana for sure and possibly the other recreational drugs. The best way to fight drug dealers, most of who are scumbags, is to attack the profits and the black market value.

[thx1138]

http://www.sho.com/site/video/brightcove/series/title.do?bcpid=14034155001&bclid=20927417001&bctid=23172700001