Replies

The basic problem in the WoD isn't that the police have their hands full. The basic problem is the police waste time and resources going after the user rather than the dealer and the distributor. As a result it isn't surprising our scarce prison cells are full of people who've simply used a few ounces of xxx drug. People like that should be treated not locked away in a cell that should be reserved for a rapist, robber or murderer. What's behind the WoD is denial by our officials of the reality that we're never going to arrest our way out of drug abuse. We've finally grasped it in California with the establishment of drug courts and it remains to be seen if the rest of the country and the Feds will catch up as well.

The basic problem is the police waste time and resources going after the user rather than the dealer and the distributor.

Negative.
It is a supply/demand problem. As long as there is demand, there will be supply. That is absolute. No matter what, as long as Americans demand drugs, someone will take the risk to deliver the drugs. If there was no demand, you could have dealers on TV selling their wares, and no one would buy. The end result, no dealers.

If you make it where you chomp supply, the price goes up. With production costs being more-or-less the same, the incentive to supply the drugs goes up.

If you are going to have a WoD (and I believe it is silly and destructive) try to dry up demand. Being that you can't on an addictive substance, you need to take the profit out of supply, by increasing competition.

One of the realities is that people will get high. Our gov't is only cutting the suppliers to keep costs high.

Why? Many theories abound, but there is one that keeps resurfacing. The gov't imports drugs and sells them. You can read all about it in various FR posts. Clinton and Mena is one of them. Many believe that GHWB and Clinton both were part of the operation.

Welfare money is appropriated by Congress. The urbanites spend it on drugs (where do you think the money comes from?), some black-budget operations raise money with drugs sales, or so the theory goes. The end result is money is moved from the productive sector, to the unproductive sector, to some shadowy parts of our gov't.