Posted on 12/13/2012 5:26:46 AM PST by Thad Lost
We have had the “War on Drugs” since the 70’s. In the 80’s, the “War” went from just skirmishes to an all out nuclear war on drugs.
Now, thirty years later what have we accomplished? Has the “War on Drugs” become just another epic government failure like the “War on Poverty” with the only thing accomplished being massive government spending and an equally massive erosion of our Constitutional Rights?
My perspective on the “War on Drugs” is a little different from most people. I practiced law for 24 years. Ten of those years were as a prosecutor. The rest were as a criminal defense lawyer. Three of my years prosecuting I spent as a drug prosecutor.
In my line of work I have met and worked with more drug dealers and users than the average person would see in a lifetime. I have no sympathy for drug dealers and while I have some pity for drug users, controlled substances of all kinds including Marijuana are something to be avoided at all costs.
The “War on Drugs” has created several things. None of them are really good. First it has created a massive government bureaucracy at not only the Federal level of government but also at the state and local levels as well. The Federal Government pumps billions of dollars out in the “War on drugs.” This money is spent on law enforcement, prosecutors, defense lawyers, prisons, corrections employees, social workers, advertising and the list goes on beyond belief.
(Excerpt) Read more at teapartynation.com ...
Prove me wrong.
You’re still dancing around the issue, Fred. I’m not condemning you. I’m not advocating the death penalty for drug users. People who use illegal drugs to escape reality are cowards. Use every trick of sophistry in the books. The statement is still true. There are no cultures that value cowardice. Still waiting for someone to disprove that statement.
The War on Drugs is successful, just as the contemporary education and justicial institutions are successful; they just have different goals than one might have naively imagined from the rhetoric promoting their various powers.
The War on Drugs is particularly successful from the pov of the economic interests represented - extraordinarily successful, actually - enough money and power for everyone involved. These various parties, public and private, do not want their apple-cart upset, and they have guns to enforce that will.
Of course, those cowards afraid of reality will deny this state of affairs despite the head-hurting cognitive dissonance required.
Nice cha-cha there. People who use illegal drugs to escape reality are cowards. You can look over my posts for a long time and never see me condemn people who have serious pain. They need to see Doctors. People who use drugs to escape reality are cowards, and no culture values cowardice.
There are evidently a lot of people here on Free Republic who have a guilty conscience.
Nobody’s dancing around anything. You say people who try to escape reality are cowards and insane. Well, everyone on the planet tries to escape reality somehow, so by your own logic, everyone is insane and cowardly. I’m still waiting for you to disprove that statement, or show me where I’m applying your logic incorrectly.
You seem to think that your logic condemns drug users, but in fact, it’s exactly the opposite, since it convicts them of nothing that everyone else is not already guilty of, which effectively exonerates them. I’m not doing that, it’s YOUR logic that does it. So, if you don’t intend to do that, then maybe you should reexamine YOUR argument.
I think legalizing everything is probably not practical and probably not going to happen. Instead how about we do away with the armed home invasions - we don’t do that for white collar criminals or check forgers - so why do we have to enforce the drug laws with a small army? It really doesn’t make any sense. We don’t have to say “do crack and meth to your hearts content” - just simply enforce the existing laws without going full fledged gestapo. That’s what I would do.
Explain. I am not saying plants and chemicals “give” you anything. They simply allow you to temporarily alter your brain chemistry and think something that you ordinarily never would. Everyone perceives reality differently and their brain chemistry is the reason. Altering the chemistry allows one to see a perspective that they otherwise NEVER would.
The most effective chemicals for new perspectives are present in plants that grow in every corner of the globe. Specifically, the many chemicals that fall under the DMT family. They are already present in your body and are NOT ADDICTIVE AND NOT TOXIC. They cannot be abused recreationally to escape from anything and there is NO danger if used with an experienced guide. There has NEVER been a single recorded case of harm.
I have known numerous people in the scientific community that have used chemicals to gain new perspectives on reality and had real revolutionary breakthroughs. Most will not speak of it because of ignorant attitudes like yours but many are starting to. Watch the documentary I sent you or attend a conference on psychedelic science.
Yep. You were right. The War on Drugs is a better threat to personal freedom than it is to illegal drugs.
Yeah, because the high from oxycontin has nothing to do with it, right? Sorry, when you’re doctor shopping and stockpiling, you’re escaping. So by you limbaugh is still an insane coward.
You better give up dancing. It’s like watching a fat old white guy on Soul Train. It’s just that sad.
I seems to me that it is you escaping reality.
Repeating ignorance doesn’t make it so.
Since then, I have had a successful career in business & am retired. Drugs are out now - too old - but I like to have a drink occasionally. So, I'd say I have some first hand knowledge. If you bother to read my comment history, you will see I am a sane conservative.
Responsible drug use is the same as responsible alcohol use - moderation & infrequency. Children should never use drugs, any more than they should vote - their brains are not yet formed & they lack maturity. While I agree that some drugs are too “intense”, & therefore dangerous, the government will never keep people from getting a buzz by one manner or another. Ironically, the drug war has spawned the designer drugs, as they are easy to make & transport compared to pot or coke, which are bulky & smelly.
People have to learn for themselves what is good, & what is bad for THEM. Some people abuse alcohol, some don't. Same with drugs, food, sex, & money. It should be clear to anyone that has ever been in a bar that people like to get high - some, real high. This is not gonna change until the eugenicists take over, & perhaps not even then.
I disagree, and I have actual life experience to back up what I assert.
I was a crack cocaine user for some time, and I have a significant time clean now. I used pot prior to that.
I did so, not out of cowardice, but out of unresolved issues that are personal to me. If a chance had been there to deal with those issues.....or even my *awareness* of that chance....OR EVEN AWARENESS OF THE ISSUES THEMSELVES.... I certainly would have done something different. However, it takes getting into treatment to start the process of discovery of what is making you act out in such a self-destructive fashion, and then discovery on what to do about it all.
These things took time and information. Mostly time. Believe me, cowardice is not part of the equation here. I have been in harrowing drug situations that would make many men collapse into the fetal position.
You cannot possibly ascribe a single word -- cowardice -- to what motivates a user. I probably, with many paragraphs, have barely even scratched the surface of what motivated me. I do know that treatment helped; bravery would not have. I was already brave. I braved police, ripoffs, guns under my chin, narrow escapes, beat-downs, poverty, and job losses.
Please open your concept-universe to be aware that maybe you don't have an answer, certainly not with a single word.
Kindest regards this holiday season.
Ok, put the army on the border. Do you think that will end the WoD? What about the drugs already produced in-country, or where production can be easily transferred here? What about the drugs shipped in from overseas with Customs agents being bribed to turn a blind eye to it? What about prescription drug abuse?
Your solution sounds good for a minute, but it wouldn’t stop anything, it would only make the supply a little smaller, which would make the value of drugs go up, which would make more people willing to take the risk in order to meet the demand.
“The so-called ‘war on drugs’ doesn’t end until your children are allowed to buy cocaine to share at elementary school”
Any prohibition at all means there has to be a way to enforce it, right?
I don’t know why you replied to me, since you’re not quoting anything that I said.
I had to click on something to bring up the reply form so I could write my critical and oh so original response. :p
You saw my high school graduation picture, didn’t you?
I think that everyone should be proud of their marijuana use to escape reality. I remember standing in formation while the Adjutant read those Medal of Honor Citations to the unit.
“Larry had a hard day at high school. Sally didn’t smile at him. His parents were down on him for not taking out the garbage. Mr. Andrews, the math teacher, had embarrassed him by asking where his homework was. Against these overwhelming odds and obstacles, Larry bravely lit up a joint and said, ‘Screw it!’ For these actions, that were above and beyond the call of duty, Larry was posthumously awarded The Silver Roachclip With V Device.”
I’m proud to say I knew Larry. What a hero.
Yes, I am advocating for illegal drug use. You caught me.
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