I’m watching A Scanner Darkly as I post this, and it feels really dated… I mean, I know the book was written in the 60s, but I think 10 years ago it would have felt creepily prescient, but now it feels like a historic version of the future. Probably because terrorism has displaced it as the #1 public anxiety.
The animation thing is cool though.
The answer to the question is yes, no doubt, 100% yes.
Whew!
I’m concerned that you’re relieved.
Why is that?
(ETA: Note that right now I have no idea whether or not we are even having the same conversation. My “whew” was ironic.)
Are we turning the corner on that war on drugs yet? Is there light at the end of the tunnel? How 'bout if I smoke some more sticky icky – will I see the light then?
Well I suppose I didn’t get that your response was ironic.
OK, then. So let’s say the answer is 100% yes. Which of the slates of presidential candidates has made the drug war part of their platform? I haven’t noticed… not that I’ve paid much attention. I read about meth once in a while in the newspaper, but I just don’t feel drugs are what they used to be in the political arena. I can’t even remember the last PSA I’ve seen on the topic.
Ron Paul is against the drug war. Now sure how strong he is on it though on his campaign.
Yes but it is taking longer to subdue the insurgents than the government thought.
The WoD has long been institutionalized, and is a fixture on the American political landscape but mostly it remains in the background. Until some acute stimulus brings it within focus for a short time like the meth epidemic in the Western US, medical marijuana, Marijuana 2.0, the occasional Salvia Divinorum scare story …etc.
The drug war has been going on for 40 years or so now. It has been very effective. It is impossible to get street drugs in America. Crack and cocaine, heroin etc…all wiped out by our diligent efforts. lets hear it for our drug enforcement organizations that have accomplished so much. Plus weed is no longer available except for medical reasons. Be proud of what we have accomplished.
Is it true that you only go to war on the drugs you’ve got, not the drugs you want?
Creepy. I just started watching A Scanner Darkly last night, myself. I noticed something that I didn’t see when I read the book. While the book is as strong as anti-drug messages can get, IMO - the movie makes a case for watching the interactions between government and private companies.
It’s been too long since I read the book to remember if the plot was the same, but it seemed like a good representation of Dick’s “universe” as I remember it. Much better than other film adaptations of his works I’ve seen (even Bladerunner, though I love the movie). Sorry to go all Cafe Society on you guys.
Yes, though in an unexpected upset, the Drugs won.
All you need to do is look to sentencing guidelines, the number of Americans incarcerated for drug offenses, and the value of seized property to see that there are a whole lot of people who are gaining - financially and/or politically - to see that the WoD is still going strong. And as long as folk are profiting from it, there is no reason to expect it to change anytime soon.
Look at it from the other side - who profits from changing our current “lock-em up” policy?
It’s at the point where you don’t need to make it part of your platform. It’s just assumed, because everybody knows all drugs everywhere are bad. That’s why they are illegal, because they’re bad. Only the legal ones are good.
Did you see the government’s well-reasoned ads linking pot to terrorism a few years ago? Or have you had trouble getting cough medicine because one or two ingredients in cough medicine can be used in making crystal meth, which (according to the news) every single person in the Midwest is now fatally hooked on? There’s been a little bit of pushback; I remember hearing that judges are being allowed a little more discretion in sentencing crack users. But the stupid drug war is still on.
And by circular logic, they are bad because they’re illegal. Once you get to the point of something being illegal, then law enforcement is obligated to stamp it out, or at least try to.
Unexpected?