The drug problem.
They’ve been trying to solve it for what seems like a loooong time now.
How to really do so?
Personally, I think that the people who are supposed to be watching our borders and arresting incoming loads of drugs are taking bribes and letting them in.
Whats the solution; arrest all sellers?
Nah, the prisons would be too full.
Making it all legal? Why not, alcohol is legal.
no
What kind of a response is THAT?
Are you High or something?
The “just say no” campaign got me off the pipe.
And, let us not forget the great boon to culture that occured when Mrs. Reagan sat on MR. T’s lap!
Yes, that was enough to turn anyone off drugs.
They really should’ve said, keep taking drugs and you will be just like nancy.
Other than some SF type of techno thing like releasing a toxin that wipes out the entire coca species the only feasible way I can see to ‘win’ the drug war is to kill the market. And I don’t see a way to do that and stay within the constitution.
Darn constitution.
I remember reading somewhere that it would be cheaper for the US to encourage the coca producing countries to grow all they can, and then buy it all and destroy it, than to continue the present war on drugs. Sure, maybe it was in High Times or some other unbiased source, but it does provide for an amusing image.
How would killing the market mess with the constitution?
Well you could do like China and hold mass execution for users and dealers.
You could suspend the 4th ammendment and search people for drugs…(no wait, I think we’ve already done that)
Oh we could suspend the 5th and take the property of (darn, I think we’ve done that already too)
Oh wait we can suspend the 8th ammendemt and send people away for excessively long (oh, somebody in congress thought of that one too)
Never mind
It’s doing so now. Illegal search and seizure, civil rights violations, etc. There was this great article in Harper’s a while ago called “This Is Your Constitution On Drugs” detailing the unconstitutional activities that have taken place in the war on drugs.
-John Ralston Saul, The Doubter’s Companion
Thanks for the back up stuffinb. You’re right on target. The constitution guarantees our rights and limits law enforcements ability to cope. Rescind the constitution and we could give the war on drugs a chance.
But I’m still holding out for legalization and taxation. THAT’D make Colombia a third world nation again pretty quickly.
My pleasure {b]Johnathan Chance** Im hoping for legalization too or at the very leat decriminalization.
I’d prefer to see legalization. If you just remove enforcement while leaving it against the law you weaken the rationale for having laws in the first place. America is anarchical enough without giving people more excuses to go overboard.
FTR I am not a user. Just a guy who desires consistency in the rules. Alcohol is legal? Make dope legal.
I think the War on Drugs needs two points of attack:
- Legalize or at least decriminalize drugs. Making them illegal has created in incredible black market for the drug providers, allowing them to reap huge profits. Legalize drugs and poof the black market disappears and along with it the incentive for people to get into the drug distribution business.
With drugs legalized, or at least decriminalized, regulate them like alcohol. Prehaps even set up a drug distribution house, like a bar. The main exception being that once you go in, you surrender your car keys.
- Education and work incentives to get people off of drugs. Dry up the demand for drugs and the distributors go out of business.
Well, that’s my suggestion.
There’s no sense in doing anything but making marijuana as legal as alcohol.
The remainder of the drugs seem too dangerous with too little benefit to remove all legal prohibitions. However, the agressive enforcement of the existing anti-drug laws seems more motivated by oppression of the poor than by truly seeking to solve the problem of drug abuse. Rather, decriminalizing their use, possession and sale, and dramatically scaling back enforcement allows us to deal decisively with situations that obtrude themselves in public while respecting the privacy of those who can effectively manage their use.
The problem with Jonathan Chance and stuffinb’s sarcastic totalitarianist “solution” is that the Chinese’ draconian efforts have NOT solved their drug problem.
The problem with Dinsdale’s buying up the supply “solution” is that it would just drive up the price, making it that more profitable to smuggle it. That and the negative effects of desperate people finding ways to pay even more for the product. Ways like mortgaging their own homes, or breaking into your’s.
You can’t tax a drug out of existence.
The higher the tax, the more incentive to evade the law.
As I understand it, law enforcement agencies have traditionally focused mainly on dealers, and on users to only a limited degree.
What do y’all think would happen if users would be sent to jail as well?
I’m sure your first reaction will be that the current jail overcrowding situation would get much worse, so let me amend my suggestion, and put users away for only a few days, a week tops, and everyone will get their turn. Whatcha think?
Actually, IME, that’s not exactly correct. See, in my state (MI) to be called a “drug dealer” one is not necessarily the person flying the plane in from Columbia.
I’ve worked with hundreds of folks over the years who were convicted of “Conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance under 50 grams”. I’ve always checked to find out how much $$ was involved. In the typical case, the buy was for about $50. And, often the involvement was : Person A, approaching Person B. Hey, do you know where I can get??? Person B. Yea, that house over there, that person here.
Person B is now arrested and charged.
So, for example, our local drug cops (the metro narcotics squad) annually make claims that they got " 400" or whatever drug dealers off the street. In reality, they got 380 drug users who would occasionally be the middle person in a deal in order to get more stuff (much like the things you see where “get your friends to sign up here and you’ll get a bonus”), and 20 middle level dealers.
That’s been my experience.
Wring…I almost addressed this subject myself. You can’t get to the middle man or the top guy but THOUGH the users. Around here you get caught using, they strong arm and deal cut for you to cheese out on the guy above you. If you don’t deal you go to jail. Who deals? Not many. They don’t want to dry up their supply or risk offending the wrong person. Besides there are plenty of people in jail due to mandatory sentencing that shouldn’t be there, many of them women with children. Their spouses or boyfriends are running businesses out of their homes, often everyone goes to the pokey. The kids go to relatives and foster.
Needs2know