Do you believe the war on drugs is a failure?

[SillyWabbit]

Yeah, let's compare somebody smoking a doobie, to murder. Great correlation...

That isn't what I've said at all. I've only said that "people are going to do it even if it's illegal" is not a good reason to change the law about ANYTHING.

I suppose you're good with urban areas that look like war zones, drive-by shootings, and general gang thuggery, huh?

Two words:

Vico-din.

 

[Triton]

Ok, I'm with you there. They feel good and alter our ordinary level of consciousness. You're right people use drugs because of their effects.

But there is less abuse in places where drugs are decriminalized.

As I said, drug use is not the same as drug abuse.

 

[Oddball]

I am not interested in rehabbing or rehabilitating anyone who breaks the law.... The money that would be saved on the "war on drugs" would be more then pay for more jails.

You want people to stop using drugs... make the risks to great to use them.

You mean that the drugs themselves aren't a big enough risk?

I did not say that.

If your deal or get caught with drugs... some people may think twice if its a mandatory 20 years in jail without the possibility of parole was the price.

I know.. its wishful thinking..... lol.

Why not just take them out and shoot 'em?

 

[Triton]

Oh I never said anything about you and I having to pay for rehab on some druggie.

No way.

I would think agreeing to treatment... would mean that you agree on taxpayers paying for it.

Community organizations, churches, families, and other non-government funded institutions could help.


However, ending the prohibition would reduce the level of abuse as has been demonstrated in other countries with far less strict laws so the cost of treatment would go down.

The forbidden taboo attached to drugs appears to illicits their abuse.

Ok fixed

 

[elvis]

You mean that the drugs themselves aren't a big enough risk?

I did not say that.

If your deal or get caught with drugs... some people may think twice if its a mandatory 20 years in jail without the possibility of parole was the price.

I know.. its wishful thinking..... lol.

Why not just take them out and shoot 'em?

Newt?

 

[SillyWabbit]

Ok, I'm with you there. They feel good and alter our ordinary level of consciousness. You're right people use drugs because of their effects.

But there is less abuse in places where drugs are decriminalized.

As I said, drug use is not the same as drug abuse.

Well, ALOC is the point. Use v abuse isn't always clear. What is clear is a world which encourages drugging oneself.

Just sayin. . .

 

[George Costanza]

If so, what is your solution to drug abuse in America?

Failure? Total.

Solution. Legalize all drugs.

In passing, I would think this would fit right into conservative thinking - you know, take responsibility for your own self and if you go down because you can't handle it, tough darts.

 

[Oddball]

If so, what is your solution to drug abuse in America?

Failure? Total.

Solution. Legalize all drugs.

In passing, I would think this would fit right into conservative thinking - you know, take responsibility for your own self and if you go down because you can't handle it, tough darts.

Ending the abysmally failed federal "war" on (some) drugs doesn't equal national legalization...It means that states can regulate recreational drugs as they see fit, just like Nevada regulates prostitution.

But telling such a truth would take away the scare tactic that socialist nimrods like you use, were Roe to be overturned.

 

[Zander]

Yes, it is a total failure.

Solution? Get the hell out of the lives of individuals.

Drug addict suffer, and they suffer a lot. They die too, usually at a very young age. Once the glamor of "illegality" is gone, the stench of reality will remain.

 

[SillyWabbit]

If so, what is your solution to drug abuse in America?

Failure? Total.

Solution. Legalize all drugs.

In passing, I would think this would fit right into conservative thinking - you know, take responsibility for your own self and if you go down because you can't handle it, tough darts.

Ending the abysmally failed federal "war" on (some) drugs doesn't equal national legalization...It means that states can regulate recreational drugs as they see fit, just like Nevada regulates prostitution.

But telling such a truth would take away the scare tactic that socialist nimrods like you use, were Roe to be overturned.

Not to be weirdo, but. . .ummm

Whut?

v

 

[Oddball]

Failure? Total.

Solution. Legalize all drugs.

In passing, I would think this would fit right into conservative thinking - you know, take responsibility for your own self and if you go down because you can't handle it, tough darts.

Ending the abysmally failed federal "war" on (some) drugs doesn't equal national legalization...It means that states can regulate recreational drugs as they see fit, just like Nevada regulates prostitution.

But telling such a truth would take away the scare tactic that socialist nimrods like you use, were Roe to be overturned.

Not to be weirdo, but. . .ummm

Whut?

v

Point being that the responsibility for regulating both would devolve to the states....They wouldn't be made legal or illegal merely by the removal of a federal policy.

 

[Wry Catcher]

I am not interested in rehabbing or rehabilitating anyone who breaks the law.... The money that would be saved on the "war on drugs" would be more then pay for more jails.

You want people to stop using drugs... make the risks to great to use them.

You mean that the drugs themselves aren't a big enough risk?

I did not say that.

If your deal or get caught with drugs... some people may think twice if its a mandatory 20 years in jail without the possibility of parole was the price).

I know.. its wishful thinking..... lol.

One year to house one prisoner in a California St. Prison costs $47,102.00 (20 years would cost over one million dollars.

Link:

California Criminal Justice FAQ: How much does it cost to incarcerate an inmate?

 

[MikeK]

From what I have seen the US government spends roughly $15 billion a year on the war on drugs. That's a lot of wasted money that could be spent paying for programs that we do need: education, transportation, etc. Frankly I probably would not redirect those funds anywhere as much as I would favor simply eliminating them (along with a whole lot of other useless shit) to reduce our yearly budget deficits

$15 billion is a very conservative estimate.

Consider that every civil servant involved in the drug war, from the federal, state and local police to the judges, court personnel, prison personnel, parole and probation officers, etc., in addition to their salaries will receive pensions for an average 20 - 30 years. That projected cost must be factored. Also consider the cost of all the equipment, from ordinary police uniforms and hardware to cars, boats, planes, helicopters, exotic electronics, etc., used in this futile, wasteful activity, along with the cost of maintaining it.

Consider the cost of all the crimes committed by drug addicts to support their habits. The vast majority of burglaries and car thefts are perpetrated by junkies who cannot otherwise afford the cost of black market drugs. In order to pay for $10 worth of street drugs they are forced to steal property worth $100 and many of them use more than $100 (street price) worth of drugs a day.

Consider that more than half of our inordinately high national prison census of two million+ are drug offenders and that it costs an average $35,000 - $50,000 per year to confine one inmate. And consider that once someone has been convicted of a crime he or she becomes virtually unemployable and either ends up on welfare or lives by stealing. Also, consider the cost of building and maintaining all the prisons needed to house so many drug offenders.

I am certain that if the fully comprehensive cost of the drug war were calculated it would be well over $100 billion annually. And money is not the only cost of this social cancer because it has nudged American society closer and closer to a police state.

The bottom line is the War on Drugs is totally counterproductive. It has been a proven failure for more than twenty years. And whether or not the American nation survives we may rest assured historians of the future will denounce the War on Drugs as an example of massive political corruption.

 

[MikeK]

Yes, it is a total failure.

Solution? Get the hell out of the lives of individuals.

Drug addict suffer, and they suffer a lot. They die too, usually at a very young age. Once the glamor of "illegality" is gone, the stench of reality will remain.

I'm pleased to say that for once I fully agree with you.

Well said!

 

[Quantum Windbag]

If so, what is your solution to drug abuse in America?

Let me get this straight, you think the only way someone could think that the war on drugs is a failure is if they can present a solution to a problem that is created by the war on drugs?

No wonder you like Obamacare, you actually do not think.

 

[MikeK]

If so, what is your solution to drug abuse in America?

Failure? Total.

Solution. Legalize all drugs.

In passing, I would think this would fit right into conservative thinking - you know, take responsibility for your own self and if you go down because you can't handle it, tough darts.

What I find most interesting is that the consensus of this entire thread is 100% in favor of ending the drug war. That seems to reflect the opinion of most Americans.

But it goes on.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

I think that people aren't really understanding what it means to be a "drug addict".

The fallacy that everyone falls into is that the drugs cause someone to become an "addict" - which is completely untrue.

Addiction is a mental disorder, not a by-product of drugs. There are plenty of "addicts" who've never taken an illegal drug in their lives.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

If so, what is your solution to drug abuse in America?

Failure? Total.

Solution. Legalize all drugs.

In passing, I would think this would fit right into conservative thinking - you know, take responsibility for your own self and if you go down because you can't handle it, tough darts.

It doesn't fit in with BIG Government thinking which is why so many liberals support the war on drugs.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

If so, what is your solution to drug abuse in America?

Failure? Total.

Solution. Legalize all drugs.

In passing, I would think this would fit right into conservative thinking - you know, take responsibility for your own self and if you go down because you can't handle it, tough darts.

It doesn't fit in with BIG Government thinking which is why so many liberals support the war on drugs.

I don't know who you've been talking to.

I don't know any "liberals" who support the war on drugs.

 

[Azrael]

If so, what is your solution to drug abuse in America?

I believe a part of the lure to start drugs is the fact that many of them are illegal.

I mean so many people are tempted to do illegal things, or things thought of as wrong because for one reason or another they think it would be cool.

I think many of the less dangerous, less addicting drugs should be legalized and then marketed and taxed by the government.
If we take them out of the hands of the drug lords and gangs and put them in the hands of the government then at least the economy will improve. Many people would probably rather buy them legally rather than illegally and it would probably be safer to do so. And I am sure they could make age laws as with tabaco and alcohol.
Legalize em and tax the hell outta em.