A Radical Solution to End the Drug War: LEGALIZE EVERYTHING

[Neo]

http://digg.com/d312kVB

A cop, of all people, crunches the numbers to help discover that America's prohibition of narcotics may be costing more lives than Mexico's — and nearly enough dollars to fund universal health care. So why NOT repeal our drug laws? This guy has the right idea.


"Yes. But I like to put it like this: I want regulation of everything. Because right now, I think they're confusing prohibition with regulation. What I'm talking about is applying standards — quality control, just like alcohol. We should have learned our lesson during alcohol prohibitions — we repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and applied standards of sale and manufacture, so it has to be a certain quality and you can't sell it to just anybody, and you still go to jail if you sell it to the wrong people. So, among other things, you'll also reduce overdoses — the majority of the overdoses we have is people who don't know what they're getting or buying because the purity level fluctuates. In addition, people are afraid to get help because they don't want to go jail, so they let their friends die. "

I finally found someone who thinks like me. Interesting and scary all at the same time.

[xxdd]

There are a lot of people who think like this, including the Economist, this is a great read http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13237193

[holdout]

yea but now what's that statistic???? more people die from drinking and driving than....---- nuff said. making everything much more easily accessible to the public means all the minors and ppl that are not allowed to have it, will go get it on purpose. when they finally get their hands on it they go hyper with their "super cool" rebellious act and start doing stupid shit. do you really want 12-year-olds running around on rooftops of houses while on meph cuz they've lost inhibitions of fear and slip off the roof and die? simply because they found it in "dad's medicine cabinet" where he put the meph he bought from "The Stim Store"?

i am the coolest unbiased fuck :D i'm all for ending the drug war, but i will never allow myself to celebrate or to pride myself in such a "victory", because of all the shit that will happen afterwards.... i will feel guilt like no tomorrow, while loaded on MDMA and cocaine.... honestly how could one with a conscience avoid a dysphoric stim session, when you know you're enjoying yourself at the cost of others' lives? (forgetting the fact that those who die are probably irresponsible and stupid-- survival of the fittest...)

and you know there are MANY things "the government" could stop funding and do something big like end world hunger. everyone wants that, but deep down in their dark hearts they, at the same time, don't want that to happen. controversial population control crap! how about a cure for cancer or HIV?-- instead of gunning down research doctors every time they discover a cure, and burn up their lab as though it never happened, all because one greedy fuck of a CEO wants to keep pocketting a couple trillion dollars in meds that year.

let's face it: unless EVERYONE in the world is on an MDMA-like high all at once where all that matters is each other, we can never break through the threshold of this "animalistic" behaviour, and the hippie era will forever be a symbol of this kind of failure.

[depeche1980]

you are wrong.

Countries which have decriminalized drugs have seen a DROP in drug use because addicts are referred to treatment.

The drug war is purely about keeping the warriors in their paid positions and the politicians re-elected

in 40 years since the "drug war" started have we made ANY progress whatsoever? If we have please show me.
1 - drugs more available in an more places. not one place where marijuana/coke not available. drug dealers don't check for ID so they sell to anyone
2 - drugs are cheaper - in the US $100 a gram for coke in 1977. $50/gram now (adjusted for inflation that is about a -80% decline in price)
3 - drugs are stronger/more dangerous. i.e. cocaine availability drop, people turn to meth
4 - only beneficiaries of the prohibition policy - drug lords, criminals, corrupt cops, jailers (private prison companies)
5 - fear of prison stops people from getting treatment and leads to greater addiction.

[xxdd]

you are wrong.

Countries which have decriminalized drugs have seen a DROP in drug use because addicts are referred to treatment.

The drug war is purely about keeping the warriors in their paid positions and the politicians re-elected

in 40 years since the "drug war" started have we made ANY progress whatsoever? If we have please show me.
1 - drugs more available in an more places. not one place where marijuana/coke not available. drug dealers don't check for ID so they sell to anyone
2 - drugs are cheaper - in the US $100 a gram for coke in 1977. $50/gram now (adjusted for inflation that is about a -80% decline in price)
3 - drugs are stronger/more dangerous. i.e. cocaine availability drop, people turn to meth
4 - only beneficiaries of the prohibition policy - drug lords, criminals, corrupt cops, jailers (private prison companies)
5 - fear of prison stops people from getting treatment and leads to greater addiction.
QFT, I completely agree.

On a related note, I'd highly recommend reading High Society by Ben Elton, it's fiction but it makes a very good point.

[shizerbeard]

this all makes far too much sense to be taken seriously by most governments


we can but dream

[excee]

this is a good read UK: OPED: The War on Drugs Is Immoral Idiocy. We Need the Courage of Argentina (http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n834/a01.html)

[mercs]

it's also worth noting that those countries that have legalised drugs did so to stop the funding to criminal gangs as well. That was their lifeblood and in Mexico it has led to a drop in crime across the board...

Also, up to the Defence of the Realm Act was brought in, you could purchase Cocaine, Morphine, hemp and opium quite happily across the UK, even Harrods! The overall usage was quite low -considerably lower than now- and people had a greater respect and sensibility about their usage....