I have to admit that this was a revelation to me but he does bring up an interesting point. Do you think that this is something than can be considered in the US given the first ones to lobby against this are the pharma and prison industry. What you guys think? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxmvFRtYuYQ&feature=youtube_gdata
It seemed to imply that the environment is a larger determinant of drug use than ethical choice or brain chemistry. The Vietnam statistic is compelling, but not new information, and I actually thought it was closer to 40% with almost complete recovery after. I actually think prevalence and social acceptability of legalized drugs is as much a contributor to environment as other factors, so no change on my perspectives there.
I saw this interview. Radical idea but seems to have been proven out in places like Portugal. Obviously, we in the US are reaping no benefits from the drug war-- unless you are in the prison industry.
The government benefits greatly off of drugs. Not just the prison system but law enforcement jobs and the government gets the benefit of taxing the America people for the so called 'war on drugs'... It's also a form of modern day slavery for poor minority groups. It's more profitable to continuously incarcerate than it is to rehabilitate and educate. Whips, chains, and plantations have been replaced with drugs, guns, and prisons... And you can see the difference in criminal sentencing that they would give to poor minority groups compared to others. In Texas it cost tax payers around $50,000 per year per prisoner and there are prisons as far as the eye can see... But you would have a hard time trying to find a rehabilitation centers and we don't spend money like that on educating children. Make no mistake about it, the dope game is big business for the government and the rest of us are just getting played.
Who lack the self control, personal dignity, ethics or risk/reward perspective to avoid involvement with drugs despite limited resources. "Slavery" from a voluntary personal act or enterprise, freaking priceless.
25% of the prison population for adult males are due to drug related charges. This means that we they have to go thru the court system where our public defenders are so busy that they cannot provide quality representation due to volume.
They probably lack the things you speak of because of limited resources and the unlimited amount of drugs and guns in their communities. Poor minority communities do not voluntarily bring in drugs from other countries and they do not voluntarily manufacture guns. On the flip side there is a big portion of the middle class and under who are 'voluntarily slaves' to credit cards due to greed and wanting shyt they don't necessarily need... But that's a different thread.
Did you catch this article... Houston Police Chief Calls Drug War A 'Miserable' Failure, Says Feds Need To Lead Reform http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6277018
And that's the opinion of a police chief in a big time city... I don't know how much longer he will have his job.
You really think Major Cities care? It's a waste for them to have to enforce small time drug laws. Now the Rural counties in Texas? They love the Drug war. They get to seize property and cash, get Government equipment and aid.
Their are direct benefits - money going to Cops/Lawyer/Courts/Prisons/Rehabilitation All these industries see DIRECT Money from the war on drugs Stop the war and each of those see their money reduced War on Drugs also has side benefits which inrease in power Cops have great authority and ability because of it the fear induced by this war makes people give up more power to Authority Rocket River
There have been a number, Norm Stamper, Judge Jim Grey (one of the biggest reasons I voted Libertarian in 2012) just to name a couple. There are a lot more at www.leap.cc, which is Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. To answer the question in the thread title, we've been looking at drugs incorrectly for over a century now. I've been talking about it for nearly two decades including this blast from the past... http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=63243
Awesome. It just shows us that this issue is not discussed enough as it only shows up once in a blue moon.
Great thread... You should bump that considering the steps the country has taking towards mar1juana since the time you started that thread.
im pretty sure "andymoon" knew this was coming. they will be adding a few more states i assume this next presidential election.
Meth is a huge problem, a good majority of violent and property crime (at least in central Texas) can be directly tied to the tweakers.
Meth is a problem created by prohibition. There are very safe alternatives which we give to our Air Force pilots nearly every time they go up, but these alternatives aren't available on the open market, creating a black market for meth. It is the same thing with crack. That drug was created, in part, to have an easily measured and transported form of cocaine. To be fair, part of the reason it was created was because smoking tends to lead to more addiction because the high hits faster (7 seconds from inhalation to brain) and harder than snorted or injected cocaine and the crash leaves the user wanting more to a larger degree than with other ingestion methods. It is entirely likely that, were amphetamines and cocaine regulated rather than prohibited, the more dangerous forms of the respective drugs would lose their popularity and slip into the sands of time. When you were able to buy cocaine over the counter in this country, the single most common method of ingestion was as a drink, much as caffeine is used today.
No I don't think they care because as I stated previously that drugs are a form of slavery and drugs are in abundance in poor minority communities in the cities. And you don't see much crime from Gunspoint or Acres Home leaking into the Woodlands. Now that meth is on the scene... You see what's happening.