So-- what is the “next question” relating to the War On Drugs?
The drug legalization/decriminalization and specifically the marijuana legalization/decriminalization debate has been covered on the SDMB many times. Here, and in other arenas of bi-(or tri or more) partisan, level-headed thinking legalizing marijauna is a no-brainer.
There no longer seems any reason to start a new thread on pot legalization on this board because nearly everyone agrees it should be legal or decriminalized.
Most pot legalization “debates” generally start with a big “me too” fest, then gradually dwindle down to-- “How do we get the politicians to reconsider the issue?” and from there naturally to-- “How can we get the others educated about the WOD to the point where they will insist their elected officials reconsider the issue?”
What I want to know is— If most thinking people agree on this, why don’t we ever get anywhere? What is the next question? The one that propels the issue to the realm of common public discourse. Is there such a question?
Recent official poll results I saw on CNN indicated that 37% of Americans now support marijuana decriminalization, the highest percentage recorded since they started keeping track.
It takes a while for a large group of people to come around to an idea when their entire government and most of their media is spouting the opposite message.
I’m getting really sick of watching other countries discuss this issue openly within their governments while our country continues to steadfastly oppose any reform. No discussion. No honest debate. Everyone is on the same side here. Drugs are BAD, therefore drug users should be thrown in jail.
The laws are rooted in racism and downright lies, not actual facts, but that doesn’t seem to matter. All that does matter is that drugs are bad, therefore they should be illegal. Why think in shades of gray when black and white is so much easier?
Its not a hot issue, is why. The people who favor decriminalization dont favor it that much, its not a “hot button”. On the other hand, the people who see decrim as the destruction of the Western Civ, etc. are very very hot about it. A politician who comes out for decrim is signing his political suicide note.
Sorry, I have to blame the Democrats on this one, when they rejected Bork to the Supreme Court. Bork was conservative and maybe a little insensitive true, but he was also a statistics freak, and have been known to declare laws unconstitutional if they were proven to be statistically misapplied and sytematic discrimination resdlted. He would most likely take one look at how the drug laws are applied very differently between Whites and Blacks, and work vigorously to either strike them down, or work more equitably. Now we have justices who does not care how the laws discriminate (especially Thomas).
Uh, let me make sure I understand you, capacitor, Democrats are to blame, since they “borked” Bork, whom you postulate would have “worked vigirously” to change our laws, and not simply interpret them?
Talk about judicial activism - if that’s what he would have done, sounds like a good reason to bork him.
Granted, the law is applied inequitably. But doesn’t that go to the application of the law, and not the principle? I think we need popular support and legistlative action, not some yahoo on the SCOTUS.
To the OP: I don’t know that there is a question. I think time may solve this one. Over time, more and more people will recognize the failings of the WOD. And more and more people that have never been exposed to marijuana will die off. Since most anyone born in the last 40 years can recognize the propaganda of the “dangers” of marijuana to be hollow, it may take another 20 or 30 years.
