Forum Post: The War on Drugs
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 19, 2011, 1:42 a.m. EST by RufusJFisk52
(259)
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Why is the end of the war on drugs not a real demand? It's what ruins the life of the poor and minorities as much as anything. Read the book "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander.....eye opening.
"I hate the war on drugs more than I fear the drugs themselves, and I hate drugs." Ron Paul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvFYCky0muY
It's hilarious that "they" preach the war on drugs but at the same time are manufacturing synthetic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Prohibition never worked and only leads to more violence. Nearly a third of Americans have tried marijuana and the world hasn't ended yet. So yes, ending the war on drugs is a priority for me as well.
its just another device for corporate profits.
Yes, the war on drugs has to go. Waste of money and lives.
i just think it should be a one of the highest priorities.
Yea, actually, even before Wall St reform, I would like the Drug War & the Patriot Act to die.
There's a big crony capitalism connection to those two items, as well.
I agree with the Rufus. Who cares if it's pot, mushrooms, or meth. To punish people for taking a substance into their body is an atrocity, and the Drug War is a crime against humanity!
I used to grow pot, I used to traffic drugs and I live literally right on the border. I now believe that my using drugs (and selling) was largely the result of mood disorders/psychiatric problems.
I have been sober for a few years now but I have been sober longer and gone back to using. What's it matter if I drink, smoke crack, or like strangle myself as I masturbate? It's my body and it's my life and it's not the government's business...well, it could be (another drug arrest and I'll rot in prison for decades) because if I start using again I am going to wear body armor an carry an automatic weapon and shoot it out!
Take it from someone who's been there, the system is broken. Prohibition doesn't work! It created the mob and it sustains the cartels. Further, it is a war waged by the government against the populace. Historically (see "A Brief History of Drugs"), drug laws have been used to oppress minorities and they are arbitrary and barbaric.
Drugs shouldn't be legalized based on merit or taxability they should be legalized because the government greatly exceeded it's authority in criminalizing them and created an atrocity that is an assault on humanity as a whole!
The definition of Liberty is well established by Supreme court ruling after Supreme court ruling, and it has always held that the Founding Fathers intention when they wrote the Constitution was that Liberty be defined per John Stuart Mills "Of Liberty", which reasons that in order to protect Liberty, one must not be permitted to give up their Liberty. Therefore non addictive drugs should be a dumb but legal choice. Cigarettes should be illegal because they are addictive, and by using them one therefor gives up one's Liberty to chose to use them again or not. Unfortunately however this society doesn't even follow its' own rules. There is too much money to be made taxing addictive substances, and we wouldn't want a non-addictive drug like Marijuana potentially replacing an addictive one like Nicotine that generates tax revenue, right?.
Yes, not to mention that hemp itself is an amazing industrial crop that could get us out of the Greatest Recession singlehandedly.
That battle has already been won. Now it just takes patience. 73% of the population under 45 supports the legalization of marijuana however it is still only a small majority overall. The progressive agenda isn't about getting your way right now. Change itself is violent, even more so if you try to compress the timeline. If you were to legalize it yesterday, you're still going to have massive drug lords and crime rings. They're not going to suddenly become honest citizens working a 9 to 5, unemployment will jump another 6% as all the people arrested on drug violations are released into the job market, plus employers are still going to demand drug tests.
The best course of action is to increase knowledge, be otherwise lawful, respectable citizens, and don't give opponents of the movement reason to discredit you.
The same thing is happening with racism, as more and more people who were directly connected to the brutal racism of the past start passing away, it becomes a less racist society.
I'd love to wake up tomorrow and there be no racism in the world, however writing legislation prohibiting racism would only bring more racists to the spotlight and make the problem a lot worse for a lot longer, even more so when they see violence as their only outlet of expression.
But if you take the crime out of the action, the crimelords seize to exist. The drug cartels only exist because it takes vast sums of money on labor to ship the product. If we allow drugs, particularly marijuana, to be moved through the U.S., the cartels have no reason to exist. If it's legal, people can grow in the U.S. and will make it much cheaper than shipping from South America. The drug cartels then do not make a profit or, t the very least, move on to more profitable venues.
The crime lords still exist, instead of smuggling drugs, it turns to smuggling people for sex or organ harvesting. The mistake was criminalizing marijuana to begin with. Now that it has been criminalized there is a huge infrastructure for these crime lords.
Your mistake is believing that the cartels exist to transport drugs, the cartels exist to make money illegally. You are already seeing a lot of this already. Several former drug cartels in Mexico are now making their money through ransom, mafia protection rackets, and robbing entire convoys on their highway system since the drug game got too dangerous.
Gradual progress is the answer, immediate legalization will create unfathomable amounts of violence in Mexico and the US. I wish it were otherwise, but that is the truth.
If you really wanted to do the right thing, you would quit smoking marijuana so as reduce cartel funding and infrastructure, but continue educating others and supporting the cause.
Any other reaction is tantamount to saying "I don't care if people are being tortured and killed as long as I can get high right now legally"
I have to disagree with you. Their cartel is not built on crime, but is built on drug transport. You have to understand that these drug rings are businesses. It would be like a clothing factory converting to a steel factory. These cartels have had years to build up and they can't change their network overnight. You lower prices by allowing pot in the U.S., the cartels will go down. They do have huge infrastructure like you said, but it's for a specific purpose. When prices drop, they have no market to operate in. So while some things need to be implemented gradually, this is one thing that will have immediate benefits.
The specific purpose of the crime networks is to create money illegally. You can Google Mexico + Ransom and there are over 3 million results indicating this is on the rise as the drug game becomes more and more risky.
As to your other point, factories can totally re-purpose over night. For several dozen examples of US clothing factories going literally overnight to steel factories. Check out the Home Front movement during WW2.
The only immediate positive effect of legalizing marijuana right now would be that individuals would not be in legal trouble. The immediate negative effect would be a drastic increase in cartel violence in the US as well as other countries.
Try to justify it to yourself however makes you feel less selfish, I'm just telling you the truth.
I'm all for legalization, however it isn't something that can or should happen overnight. If you truly want to make a difference, grow your own or quit smoking altogether otherwise you're being a hypocrite who shouldn't be taken seriously. Be ready to dispel the myths and rumors and educate others about the relative harmlessness.
This.
Plus the government gets in on the action by taxing it, like they do alcohol and tobacco products.
On that note, legalize weed - it's the least dangerous of the buzz drugs, even safer than booze - but keep the other crap illegal. How many have known a pothead to go on violent rampages when they're stoned or need a fix? That happens all the time with other dope and booze.
I definitely agree taxation is a solution. But even if we don't tax it, it still will free up so many resources we are spending on boarder control and incarceration. Collateral damage is minimal because I do not believe marijuana is dangerous. Unhealthy, sure. But like you said, nobody has went on a ranpage from smoking pot. Hell, it might even have made them happier, productive members of society. I strongly feel when OWS eventually comes up with a real plan, this should be one of the top of priorities.
...needs to end
do it legalize tax keep it over the counter in cvs