Posted on 09/14/2009 2:43:42 PM PDT by freepersunite
Far from protecting us and our children, the war on drugs is making the world a much more dangerous place.
SO FAR this year, about 4000 people have died in Mexico's drugs war - a horrifying toll. If only a good fairy could wave a magic wand and make all illegal drugs disappear, the world would be a better place.
Dream on. Recreational drug use is as old as humanity, and has not been stopped by the most draconian laws. Given that drugs are here to stay, how do we limit the harm they do?
The evidence suggests most of the problems stem not from drugs themselves, but from the fact that they are illegal. The obvious answer, then, is to make them legal.
The argument most often deployed in support of the status quo is that keeping drugs illegal curbs drug use among the law-abiding majority, thereby reducing harm overall. But a closer look reveals that this really doesn't stand up. In the UK, as in many countries, the real clampdown on drugs started in the late 1960s, yet government statistics show that the number of heroin or cocaine addicts seen by the health service has grown ever since - from around 1000 people per year then, to 100,000 today. It is a pattern that has been repeated the world over.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
doesn’t New Scientist take every faux pseudo-science thing seriously?
What? And give up all the glittering advantages of prohibition?
I agree; end the drug war now.
There was no war on drugs in Mexico forever, then Calderon came in and started a serious fight because what you ended up with was drug lords owning Mexico using money from crime to pay off all the elected officials and killing off those they could not buy.
If anything, Mexico shows what is wrong in allowing drugs and not enforcing anything for so long.
Now they have criminals acting like internal terrorist all over their nation.
Lets hope all the bad drug people die soon so Mexico can heal from all the drug lords.
In the 10,000 year history of man, Prohibition has served only to produce extreme profits for the production and distribution of the contraband, increase misery and suffering on the population, and increase the potency of the contraband. Why smuggle beer when you can smuggle whiskey? Why smuggle pot when you can smuggle crack?
Flat out .... is has not ever worked.
It probably would initially as the drug dealers and gangs fought for the last few remaining bits of territory.
But what would gangs and cartels use to finance their existence if they didn't have narcotics? I can't think of anything, except maybe identity theft, which doesn't produce the violence that narcotics trafficking does.
The problem for Holland is that they became a drug tourism spot. So far Portugal has had some success with decriminalization.
Because Singapore has declared 'War' on drugs. Get caught, you get 24 hours to notify your family where to pick up your corpse. Then they follow through. That's what a 'war' on drugs should be.
The USA doesn't have the stomach for a 'war' so we mess around, spend gazillions of dollars on programs that do not work and drive the profit incentive for drug production and distribution throught he roof. Then stare at each other, scratch our backsides and we wonder why the war on drugs isn't working.
If they come for your guns using no-knock warrants thank the War On Some Drugs.
Like the failed policies dealing with terrorism prior to 9/11 continuing to treat the war on America by the drug cartels as exclusively a legal issue is bound to fail. I wish the government would set the military loose on the cartels with a dead or alive, anywhere, any time mandate and just get out of the way. If things go exothermic in Mexico or Columbia, too bad.
They have drug rehab in Sing for users, the gallows is for
dealers. Sing is also one of the highest rated (if not the highest) in terms of the honesty of its administration.
Unlike Mexico you cannot buy your way into the drug mnarkets or out of prison.
Part of the legacy of the Senior Minister..
I just got back from Singapore, and the impression left is not that it is an oppressive police state (indeed, unlike American cities, a visible police presence is almost nonexistent), but that people obey the laws because they choose to and want to - they see it as their patriotic duty. Since that philosophy clearly won't ever again take hold in the angrily multicultural USA, legalization is our only hope of limiting (somewhat) the violence.
In the late 80’s and through the 90’s; the Singapore airport had the red line of death.
Cross the line with a suitcase with any drugs in it, you got 24 hour to call Mommy and Daddy and make arrangement for your corpse to be shipped home. They even had a board with warnings in several languages and a number showing how many had been killed so far that year.
Motorola would pay for a pre-screening; that took place on the international side of the red line, so you could pay to have your baggage examined, your coat, suitcases, briefcase scanned, then carried to the Singapore side of customs. Everyone I knew opted for this service.
Others nervously crossed the red line, and presented their luggage and themselves to random searches. Some mules got through, others got sent home at room temperature.
I also liked the way they handled honesty of their policemen. Being a policeman was a very honorable job; being caught in a corruption sting was a death sentence. Get caught speeding, you pay the officer on the spot (cash, mastercare or visa). If the cop pocketed the money, he died. They have zero tolerance for crap over there, in some regards I think we could learn a lot from them.
For example, vandalize a car and get caned. Do it again, get caned 2x. Do it again, 3x. Still didn’t catch on? Death.
All dopers I know are the very picture of cowards/wimps etc.
ALL of them dream of finding a fresh young woman (or boy for that matter) who they can get hooked and put on the street to earn money for their dope.
With proper investigations and trials, it would work like a charm.
Don't believe me? Try giving dope to someone who has a caring family with Mafia connections .....
Oh, and take away all tax payer support (welfare medical etc) and the problems would be gone.
So you legalize drugs. How is that supposed to stop the cartels from supplying anyhow? They’ll see a tightly controlled market, heavily taxed, and they will still try to run drugs into the country. Drugs that will sell like hotcakes as they will be much cheaper than what you can buy legally.
The war on drugs is the biggest and most expensive joke in the history of America. How can you win a war when you let the enemy burrow into every city and town all across the country? I say we dump the drug war unless we decide to fight it to win. That can’t happen until the corrupt politicians secure the borders like they are suppose to.
There. Fixed it.
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