[Tony Niar Brain]

The more I read the more I hear about cops that are saying the War on Drugs is fundamentally unwinnable. This is a free, capitalist democracy after all, and when demand for something is as high as it is for psychoactive chemicals, markets are created that route around little annoyances like federal and state government prohibition.

The Puritan, gut-reaction to drugs in this country is overwhelming at time. Me, I fancy myself a pragmatist, and when we pour so much of our national resources into something for so long that shows no sign of decisive results, I think we need to get out of it, cut our losses, and go back to the drawing board.

[AUgrad]

This is a free, capitalist democracy(republic) after all, and when demand for something is as high as it is for psychoactive chemicals, markets are created that route around little annoyances like federal and state government prohibition.

Well said. Most drug warriors refuse to admit that fundamental fact.

[semaj]

"...when we pour so much of our national resources into something for so long that shows no sign of decisive results, I think we need to get out of it, cut our losses, and go back to the drawing board. "

Exactly. One definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over expecting to get a different result than the previous one. The government is not insane, so it would reason that the intent of the war on drugs is not to curtail drug use, but to infringe on our freedoms and liberties through ever-increasing penalties. Property confiscation, no-knock raids, accidental deaths and injuries, curfews, gun restrictions, etc, etc...

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

Me, I fancy myself a pragmatist, and when we pour so much of our national resources into something for so long that shows no sign of decisive results, I think we need to get out of it, cut our losses, and go back to the drawing board.

Stop making sense.

[rolling_stone]

The more I read the more I hear about cops that are saying the War on Drugs is fundamentally unwinnable. This is a free, capitalist democracy after all, and when demand for something is as high as it is for psychoactive chemicals, markets are created that route around little annoyances like federal and state government prohibition.

The Puritan, gut-reaction to drugs in this country is overwhelming at time. Me, I fancy myself a pragmatist, and when we pour so much of our national resources into something for so long that shows no sign of decisive results, I think we need to get out of it, cut our losses, and go back to the drawing board.

Yes, the WOSD reminds me of both Prohibition and the Vietnam War, both were a drain on the economy that allowed a few to get wealthy at the expense of the majority. It IMO is past time to cut our losses and try another approach. I don't care for drugs or most people that use them, but the current WOD is IMO doing more harm than good to the majority of Americans. Legalize drugs and eliminate welfare, put the narco trafficers (and if you believe the ads, terrorists LOL)out of work and the welfare crowd back to work. Prohibition of alcohol was called the great experiment, why not try legalizing drugs as an experiment, what we have now is a National failure and disgrace.