Drug War Casualties (more on politics and the wod)

Fox News ^ | 5/23/02 | Radley Balko

[Ed_in_NJ]

"Drug Czar" Walters has HIS slot because his daddy was a buddy of Bush the Elder - not because of any qualifications.

This item was initially on the Fox News website, but has been 'pulled' without explanation.

[agitator]

This sounds a whole lot like bad old-folks homes. Warehousing captives at absolute minimum cost while sucking up huge amounts of governement money.

[philman_36]

Thanks for the article Ed. Nothing new in this news for those who know. It may surprise some that this is all "accepted, acceptable and normal".
Last year, a reporter from the Canadian e-zine Cannabis News asked Betty Sembler in person about the horror stories he'd read from Straight survivors. "They should get a life," Sembler replied. "I am proud of everything we have done. There's nothing to apologize for. The legalizers are the ones who should be apologizing."
What a callous b|t(h Mrs. Sembler is (someone ought to be ashamed of theirselves)!
Fine Republican examples. (NOT)

jmc813, my turn to ping you.
My, some of this is so familiar!

[philman_36]

Wans't there some mention quite some time back about the rehabilitqation center industry being all for the WOsD?
Kinda vindicates the supposition doesn't it.
Lots of "treatment" folks on the WOD threads.
Just another money scam IMO...I'd start looking into other owners and kickbacks if I were a paid journalist interested in this issue.

[Ed_in_NJ]

...and doing more harm than good.

[Ed_in_NJ]

Seems that there are loonies on the RIGHT, too!

[philman_36]

Seems that there are loonies on the RIGHT, too!
How does that old song go...
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you

An apt song when taken in perspective.

[Ed_in_NJ]

bump for the early risers

[Ed_in_NJ]

...and the later ones.

[jmc813]

WOD Ping

[Ed_in_NJ]

Friends of yours?

[robertpaulsen]

"Friends of yours?"

What friends?

The writer? Naw, he's a 28-year-old libertarian freelance writer who works for the Cato Institute. He's still an idealist.

The owner of the website (webdiva.org) through which is the only way to access this 15 month old article? Hardly. She blames Straight, Inc. for the suicide of her drug addicted brother, committed a year after dropping out of the program.

Straight, Inc.? Nope. That program shut down 10 years ago.

We're talking about a defunct drug rehabilitation organization where people voluntarily paid a good amount of money to partake in. Yeah, it was tough. Drug addiction is a hell of alot tougher.

But, I ask you. What does this have to do with Walters and the WOD? Are they responsible for drug addiction? Is that what you're saying by posting this old article about an organization that no longer exists?

That's insane. Legalize drugs and you'll have 1000X the horror stories.

[Ed_in_NJ]

DFAF exists today, run by the same nutcases that started Straight. Still ripping off our tax dollars, fueled by hysteria, exploited by drugwar profiteers, and producing extremely poor return for the money.

Since you seem to share their rational approach to the problem, and seem to benefit from the wod, I thought you might find this of interest. Apparently you are/were already aware of it.

Do you also support mental institutions where the patients are beaten?

[Kevin Curry]

You seem to be mocking the goofy pro-dope libertarian core argument: if dope were legal, no one would use it let alone profit it.

All addiction, all drug-related crime, all drug-related suicides occur because there is a war on drugs.

Hard to believe, I realize--but just ask any pro-dope libertarian to explain it to you. He'll be happy to, between bong hits.

[Ed_in_NJ]

What does this have to do with Walters and the WOD?

If you really need it explained, Walters hands out wod money to the profiteers. He is the 'drug czar' because his father was pals/served with Bush 41, and because the Semblers approve of him: the Bush, Sembler and Walters clans are one big happy political bunch.

The wod is a farce, partly because the chieftans are political, and partly because the profiteers don't have to show RESULTS in order to get more money; they can just keep on pretending to fight the war, and keep on feeding from the public trough.

[dennisw]

Yep, she would be far better off if your pipe dream became reality and she was down in the gutter mainlining legalized heroin and methedrine.

[Ed_in_NJ]

And what exactly is my "pipe dream?"

[Ed_in_NJ]

FYI bttt

[headsonpikes]

There should be trials of these scavenging profiteers.

They might laugh scornfully at that idea today, but perhaps they will grasp it like a life-line within a few years.

[Ed_in_NJ]

Accountability is a lot to ask for from our feds, but some of the wod money is little more than payoffs - grants to anyone that wants to start an 'anti-drug' program. Of course it doesn't hurt to be 'known' by the people handing out the cash.