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Drug czar: Milton Friedman's drug-war critique 'demonstrably untrue'
SIgnOnSanDiego ^ | October 4, 2007 | Chris Reed

Posted on 10/05/2007 7:17:45 AM PDT by cryptical

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John Walters, still slinging the bull.
1 posted on 10/05/2007 7:17:48 AM PDT by cryptical
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To: cryptical
No heavy lifting. Regular hours. Yearly vacation and holidays off. Health, Dental, full pension in 20 years.

Hey, even bureaucrats have to eat.

2 posted on 10/05/2007 7:25:15 AM PDT by Leisler (Sugar, the gateway to diabetes, misery and death. Stop Sugar Deaths NOW!)
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To: cryptical

“John Walters, still slinging the bull”

I want some of what the drug czar’s smoking!


3 posted on 10/05/2007 7:25:37 AM PDT by GovernmentIsTheProblem (The GOP is "Whig"ing out.)
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To: cryptical
"Did he in any way acknowledge the oddity of having a war on drugs that don't kill all that many people"

Is the author suggesting that we legalize heroin, meth and cocaine so those drugs can kill more people -- maybe even catch up to alcohol?

What a maroon.

4 posted on 10/05/2007 7:26:57 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
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To: cryptical
"so I didn't ask him the obvious follow-up about the fact that no one is actually ever charged with a crime in many asset forfeiture cases"

Uh, yeah. That's why it's called Civil Asset Forfeiture. If they were charged with a crime, it would be Criminal Asset Forfeiture.

What a maroon.

5 posted on 10/05/2007 7:30:10 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
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To: cryptical

I love the inner city analogy...the only thing black kids have to aspire to is pro sports or drug dealing.

Stop the WOD & legalize drugs.

Voila, the black kids then only have pro sports to improve their lives.

See, making drugs legal solves the inner city black kids!


6 posted on 10/05/2007 7:30:29 AM PDT by Seeking the truth (Sale on Pajama Patrol Badges & Pins @ www.0cents.com)
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To: cryptical
"Legalizing drugs would simultaneously reduce the amount of crime and raise the quality of law enforcement. Can you conceive of any other measure that would accomplish so much to promote law and order?"

Yes. We could legalize drunk driving. Arrest the drunk driver only if he harms someone or damages property. Drunk driving, like drug use, harms no one. Right?

7 posted on 10/05/2007 7:36:07 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
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To: cryptical
"We cannot end the drug traffic"

Nor murder, burglaries, rapes, prostitution, etc. No reason to throw in the towel and legalize those activities.

8 posted on 10/05/2007 7:39:53 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
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To: cryptical
"and it is still common to hear black youths and young adults describe an urban lifestyle so barren that pro sports and drug dealing are the only way out."

I seem to recall that the urban lifestyle was pretty darn barren during the Great Depression, but I don't recall reading that pro sports and drug dealing were the only way out.

I believe the solution back then was to GET A JOB. Perhaps that would work today.

9 posted on 10/05/2007 7:44:30 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
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To: robertpaulsen

No, the author is suggesting that the drug war isn’t about “protecting” people at all - it’s about increasing the power of the state.

Free man will sometimes make bad choices. Those may be tragic, but that does not mean the state has a right to make choices for everyone.


10 posted on 10/05/2007 7:45:29 AM PDT by highball ("I never should have switched from scotch to martinis." -- the last words of Humphrey Bogart)
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To: cryptical

What was it George Carlin used to say?... Just give us the pot. ;-)


11 posted on 10/05/2007 7:51:06 AM PDT by rhombus
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Comment #12 Removed by Moderator

To: robertpaulsen
Show of hands of all those who want meth, heroin and cocaine legal, cheap and readily avilable. Hmmmm. Other than the author, drug users, Libertarians and idiots (but I repeat muyself), I don't see many hands.

Care to focus that list on marijuana and call for another show of hands?

13 posted on 10/05/2007 7:55:56 AM PDT by rhombus
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To: highball
"Free man will sometimes make bad choices. Those may be tragic, but that does not mean the state has a right to make choices for everyone."

I hope you wore your kevlar today...and a spittle shield. Common sense and WOD threads do not mix.

14 posted on 10/05/2007 7:57:23 AM PDT by sweet_diane (Turn off the radio and get back to work Senator Reid.)
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To: highball
"it’s about increasing the power of the state."

If true, it's a lousy way to do it. If people stopped doing recreational drugs, the state would have no power.

15 posted on 10/05/2007 7:58:20 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
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To: rhombus
"Care to focus that list on marijuana and call for another show of hands?"

The author didn't. Why should I?

16 posted on 10/05/2007 8:00:28 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
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Comment #17 Removed by Moderator

To: robertpaulsen
If true, it's a lousy way to do it. If people stopped doing recreational drugs, the state would have no power.

They'd just pull an ATF, and figure out something else to regulate.

18 posted on 10/05/2007 8:01:23 AM PDT by cryptical ("The future is already here; it's just not evenly distributed." - William Gibson)
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To: robertpaulsen
“Uh, yeah. That’s why it’s called Civil Asset Forfeiture.”

Only the government is allowed to seize assets without civil trial. If anyone else tried to do what our government does routinely they would be tried and convicted of armed robbery. Drug warriors have made the US a police state where guilt or innocence is decided at the whim of police.

Constitutional protections like presumption of innocence until proved guilty, and trial by a jury of your peers have been destroyed by the drug war. Welcome to the Soviet States of America where everything that is not prohibited, is compulsory.

19 posted on 10/05/2007 8:02:16 AM PDT by monday
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To: robertpaulsen
Is the author suggesting that we legalize heroin, meth and cocaine so those drugs can kill more people -- maybe even catch up to alcohol?

The drug war is lost. Time to cut our losses and spend money elsewhere, like sealing the border.

The potency of narcotics today is a direct result of the prohibition policies set forth in the middle of the last century. Just like moonshine during prohibition, if alcohol were illegal, you'd see a black market in 180 proof booze as the standard. But with a freedom based model, people are free to make their own choices, good or bad, without tying up the courts and law enforcement going after potheads and crack addicts.

20 posted on 10/05/2007 8:04:22 AM PDT by GunRunner (Thompson 2008 - Security, Unity, Prosperity)
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