Posted on 12/13/2012 5:26:46 AM PST by Thad Lost
We have had the “War on Drugs” since the 70’s. In the 80’s, the “War” went from just skirmishes to an all out nuclear war on drugs.
Now, thirty years later what have we accomplished? Has the “War on Drugs” become just another epic government failure like the “War on Poverty” with the only thing accomplished being massive government spending and an equally massive erosion of our Constitutional Rights?
My perspective on the “War on Drugs” is a little different from most people. I practiced law for 24 years. Ten of those years were as a prosecutor. The rest were as a criminal defense lawyer. Three of my years prosecuting I spent as a drug prosecutor.
In my line of work I have met and worked with more drug dealers and users than the average person would see in a lifetime. I have no sympathy for drug dealers and while I have some pity for drug users, controlled substances of all kinds including Marijuana are something to be avoided at all costs.
The “War on Drugs” has created several things. None of them are really good. First it has created a massive government bureaucracy at not only the Federal level of government but also at the state and local levels as well. The Federal Government pumps billions of dollars out in the “War on drugs.” This money is spent on law enforcement, prosecutors, defense lawyers, prisons, corrections employees, social workers, advertising and the list goes on beyond belief.
(Excerpt) Read more at teapartynation.com ...
Thirty years later, every one of my predictions have been realized.
They will never, under any circumstances, relinquish that power.
The drug laws are what enabled the feral government to take over the entire health care system.
I read the whole article and while this fella makes a lot of good points, his prescription to solve the probem is pure bunk and won’t work.
They need to let people do drugs freely, let’s hope that the low downs kill themselves, I’m tired of trying to force people to make wise choices. If people realized no one will stop them for poisoning themselves...but why put ourselves in harms way to stop them from being stupid.
Judson Phillips nails it.
In a nutshell: YES. What we have done aint workin’—we need to try a new approach. All we have done is make drug cartels rich and financed death. Like the ban in alcohol in the 20s, all it did was give us organized crime. Strike it down.
“Register” drug users? That’s a new one, but you know what, you’ll get just as big of a resistance to that as you would for registering guns.
And, honestly, drug cartels will really go away even if the price of drugs will get lowered? Doubt it. What would happen is they would steal the cheap drugs and resell them. They won’t just “go away,” they’ll find some way to adapt, and it’d still be illegal.
War on Drugs, Poverty, etc., are just ways to taking money from some and giving to others, under the guise of some big social issue.
Several years ago, we saw some reports of US military guarding poppy fields in Afghanistan.
This election, we saw a couple of states legalize marijuana use.
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The War on Drugs was lost when Congress founded it.
I don’t see where in the Constitution something like the War on Drugs is authorized. Let state and local governments decide the issue.
The feral government is only interested in power. Period.
He has a somewhat good idea. I would actually prefer to legalize drugs, but having users register and be put off limits for some jobs might work, although you would still have illegal users and the war on drugs might continue unabated in this case. Take the money out of drugs and you will end the problems caused by gangs, also we can then disband our swat teams, which need to be done away with immediately, if not sooner.
For the worse.
This guy is an effing retard.
People will take drugs whether its legal or not.
I see your point, but here is the problem with that.
Unless the definition of drug abuse changes from a “disease” to something less medical, something like “criminal” then there is no chance.
Someone in the workplace is eventually going to either kill themselves or others and the lawsuits are going to roll in.
The users, registered or not, are already banned from jobs require drug tests.
I do think the WOD needs to be greatly changed or mostly done away with, I just don't care for this fella's prescription.
Judson,
I think you’re on to something. Take away the profit motive for drugs and a lot of organized drug crime will evaporate. I have some ideas to share with you. Look at how Spain handles drugs. Not perfect but a world of improvement from the user’s end of things.
Well and good if we can completely insulate the rest of society from them. Don’t think theres any practical way of doing that. Really, its not about drugs but about making sure the rest of us have a place outside the radius of their train wreck.
I always suspect that people who advocate legalizing drugs haven’t lived around people who use them much.
In the pretend world that libertarians inhabit the impact of drug users’ irrational behavior and psychotic thinking on others is simply ignored.
“The feral government derives too much power from the war on drugs that aren’t under the control of the big-government/big-corporate criminal complex.
They will never, under any circumstances, relinquish that power.”
I agree with your statement. What will be intereting is when the states that are now legalizing marijuana find that they too can profit — they will build big state regulatory agencies and collect taxes, taxes and more taxes — all f which will go towards self-perpetuating their larger governments and their power.
Then it will be a battle royale over states’ rights v federal government intrusion and extra-constitutional activities. Which one gets the power?
No government, local, state or feral relenquishes power easily. I see the legalization of marijuana by states as a conservative’s dream issue. It promotes federalism, adheres to states’ rights, limits federal government, grants individual liberty and (through social Darwinism) may eventually promote individual responsibility.
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