What do we get with a "War on Drugs".

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

SF VIP
Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
I was watching Ken Burns' Prohibition. What we have now is the same conditions back in the 1920s. The more we make sentences for drug crimes higher and higher, the criminals get more violent to avoid them. You went from just having addicts to having a huge violent, illegal drug cartel. If we got rid of all the laws about illegal drugs, would we have addicts? Yes. People get hooked on drugs. People are young, stupid, feel invincible, or whatever reason you can think for taking drugs. This is gong to happen with or without a "War on Drugs". Take all the Drug War money and use it to get people clean. That is the only thing, which gets rid of addiction.
 

The important thing in any war, is to know who your enemy is. The state governments, and some circles in the federal government, seem to have finally recognized that marijuana is not to be compared to opiates or other destructive drugs and that there are some 30 million potheads who are potential allies in the war on drugs. It's good to see these current steps in that direction:

On Nov. 8, 2016, voters in nine states decided whether or not to
legalize marijuana. Five of those states — Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada — saw ballot initiatives to legalize weed for recreational purposes. California and Massachusetts were the first of the states considering recreational pot to legalize it. Nevada soon followed. Maine was on course to pass legal weed, however it isn't yet official. In mid-April, Pennsylvania passed legislation to legalize medical marijuana, bringing the total number of states (plus Washington, D.C.) with some form of legal pot to 24. The majority of those states have legalized cannabis for medicinal purposes, however recreational marijuana use is now fully legal in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia. I assume others will join them as their new laws are ratified.


 

Incarceration is expensive....and is not effective, as a sole solution in correcting drug abuse. Drug rehabilitation is more effective, and less expensive.
 
Even with the passage of so many new marijuana laws, the Feds - and, by extension, the states - are stepping on eggshells. They still have the Reefer Madness mentality.

As an example, here in PA ... yes, they passed the medical marijuana act, and it will theoretically be implemented in a few years.

Problems:

Supply

There are only 4 grow facilities currently coming online in the several surrounding counties. In news interviews with the locals, the majority of them had a "not in my backyard" mentality. It's going to take time to educate these people, if that is indeed possible.

Getting It

Old-school doctors here were brought through med school being taught that weed is a killer drug. They aren't likely to change their minds now. The younger docs, although more open-minded, are often constrained by the leaders of their medical groups. "No, we don't want anyone having anything to do with this!"

Another point is that the docs cannot prescribe medical marijuana: they can only recommend it. This will be another great hurdle to clear.

Public Perception

Once again, this area has an older population. The youngsters flee town as soon as they can. It's an overwhelmingly anti-marijuana atmosphere here. Education will take quite a while.

DUI Laws

Our present DUI laws are not set up with marijuana in mind. There is no valid test for impairment with weed. It stays in the body for about a month, far longer than most other drugs or alcohol.

Law Enforcement

As with the doctors, the LE community has been trained to see marijuana as the Enemy. This will take time to overcome.
 
We have had a "war on drugs" for decades, and the nation has wasted 100's of billions of dollars in this effort....and the result is that the problem is far worse today than it was years ago. There was a similar "war" on alcohol during Prohibition, with similar results. One would think our government would have learned something from Prohibition...but apparently not. There will always be fools that want to use/abuse drugs, just as there are those who cannot live without their booze. The only Sensible approach would be to legalize, and Tax this stuff, just like alcohol. The taxes generated would probably go a long way towards paying the medical costs for those who overdose, so they would, in effect, be paying for their health care costs, in advance, when they buy this junk. Legalizing these drugs would also go a long way towards eliminating the drug gangs and Mexican drug cartels, thus reducing the amount of crime taking place as a result of illegal drug trafficking.

People will Always prove to be their own worst enemies, and our present laws just insure that the drug situation will only continue to get worse.
 
Falcon said:
Just sit on the sidelines and smile because you're not a user.
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You aren't serious with that attitude are you? Are you really so obtuse to think that this "War on drugs" doesn't have a serious and detrimental effect on your life?

What is the budget for your local Police Department? Do you not think that could be halved.

What is spent on housing non violent drug offenders in your state? Couldn't that money be put to better use.

There is no drug fuelled violence in your area? How much violence would go away if the dealers no longer had to defend their turf.

Maybe your answer was an off the cuff jest? I would encourage you to take a more involved attitude to your citizenship.

No you are only obligated at a minimum to answer the census, perform jury duty,and pay taxes, but imagine how much better a country this would be if we all took a more active role in our civic discourse.
 
Obtuse ? Me? Obviously you missed the point.

As long as I don't smoke or eat that $hit, I couldn't care less about the idiots who think they can't live without it.

ONE POINT ; IF they need it for medical reasons, I'm all for it !

We have many more issues to worry about than folks using pot. It's THEIR business, certainly not mine.

Also, I don't need YOU preaching to me.
 
tnthomas said:
Incarceration is expensive....and is not effective, as a sole solution in correcting drug abuse. Drug rehabilitation is more effective, and less expensive.
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But what do you do (or recommend) for the makers, transporters & dealers that are smart enough not to use the drugs themselves?
 
tnthomas said:
Incarceration is expensive....and is not effective, as a sole solution in correcting drug abuse. Drug rehabilitation is more effective, and less expensive.
Click to expand...

I agree with both of your statements.
But, re: your second statement- what about individuals for whom rehabilitation is useless because they do not want to get/stay clean?
 

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