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Local, national groups call for end to ‘war on drugs’
Middletown Press ^ | December 04, 2002 | JOHN ZORABEDIAN

Posted on 12/04/2002 3:05:07 PM PST by MrLeRoy

MIDDLETOWN -- Peter Christ and Cliff Thornton are two men with very different backgrounds: Thornton was a substitute teacher in Hartford’s schools, and Christ is a former police officer in western New York state. But both men have reached the same conclusion -- that the ‘war on drugs’ is a massive failure that only deepens the national crisis of addiction and drug-related crime.

After 20 years on opposite sides of a war that has cost over $1 trillion in 30 years, with millions of casualties on both sides, the two men, and many more around the country, are pursuing campaigns to decriminalize illicit drugs.

"No matter how many (drug offenders) are locked up, the problem doesn’t go away ..it gets worse," said Thornton, an educator for a Hartford-based drug law reform group. "The drug war is a colossal waste of resources (and) we must dismantle this monster."

Speaking to a large group of students at Wesleyan University Tuesday, Thornton and Christ explained their shared perception of the so-called drug war as a policy that not only fails to keep drugs off the streets and out of schools, but leads to the incarceration of large sectors of the population -- mostly poor people and minorities.

"The average drug user in the United States has a 40-hour per week job and is white," said Thornton, who cited reports from Amnesty International condemning U.S. drug policy for its violations of human and civil rights. "But the faces of prisoners are overwhelmingly black and brown."

African-American men make up only 3 percent of Connecticut’s population, according to Thornton’s group, Efficacy, but constitute 47 percent of all inmates in the state’s prisons and halfway houses.

Prisons themselves are "largely violent, drug-ridden places," he said, where inmates are not likely to get the treatment they need."

Although Thornton likened the "war on drugs" to "class and race warfare," Christ said he views the prohibition of drugs as a matter of practicality -- prohibition simply doesn’t work.

Alcohol prohibition ended in the 1930s, "not because alcohol became benign ..but because we realized the policy (of prohibition) caused more problems than (alcohol did)," said Christ.

A founding member of the national group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Christ said he wants to see drugs legalized as a way to reduce drug-related crime and to regulate dangerous drugs.

Comparing drug prohibition to abortion and gambling laws, Christ said legalization will not cause an increase in the number of drug addicts.

"I want to regulate and control drugs in this country," said Christ. "You can’t regulate the black market."

The forum was sponsored by the Wesleyan group Students for Sensible Drug Policy.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: brownshirts; drug; druggiewhine; jbtsonparade; obeyorpay; onlydopesusedope; wod; wodlist
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To: EBUCK
But you forgot to tell me what the hell aspirin has to do with anything.
41 posted on 12/05/2002 2:52:59 AM PST by Houmatt
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To: gcruse
The fact remains.

Ah, but what fact? Surely, you mean that polls and surveys and be manipulated to get any kind of response you desire?

In that case, I am inclined to agree with you.

42 posted on 12/05/2002 2:56:54 AM PST by Houmatt
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To: ThinkDifferent
That circular reasoning, i.e. supporting the WOD because drugs are illegal, is a logical fallacy.

The only logical fallacy is the number of deaths from illicit drug use would either stay the same or get even lower if drugs were legalized.

So you would support the return of alcohol prohibition?

Did I say that?

43 posted on 12/05/2002 3:00:30 AM PST by Houmatt
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To: dcwusmc
If that's the case, why are all the medical mj and decrim laws and initiatives passing?

Oh, really? You mean, the ones in two states?

Get your facts straight before re-posting so you will not further embarass yourself.

44 posted on 12/05/2002 3:04:17 AM PST by Houmatt
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To: austinTparty
Do you support repealing the 2nd Amendment?

*Yawn.*

The point of eliminating the "WOD" is not to encourage drug use. Stopping the "WOD" does not automatically mean legalization, actually. But you can stop making possession a mandatory prison-time serving criminal offense, and replace it with an exhorbitant fine, should you prefer. The "WOD" has given the government an excuse to trample on 4th Amendment rights, which I (as a NON-drug user) am concerned about.

Then you should harass your Congressman and Senators and get those particular laws removed, instead of throwing out the baby with the bath water.

Otherwise, if you don't like the idea of doing jail time for drug possession, the simple answer to that is to stay away from them. Problem solved.

45 posted on 12/05/2002 3:09:11 AM PST by Houmatt
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To: Houmatt
Jeez....little testy yesterday....what happened, some one slip a little "special K" into your coffee.

My point to my post is that losers who take drugs are just that....losers.

No self love, no self respect. Why have my hard earned tax money go to a gub-mint program that doesn't work?

A quicker solution would be to let the losers finish them selves off.

Let them die at their own hands.

Survival of the fittest.

If you insist on wasting my money, please waste it on something that MIGHT be doing some good, like child cancer research or something.

about the name calling thing....maybe YOU need a few anti-depressants.
46 posted on 12/05/2002 5:22:15 AM PST by taxed2death
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To: Houmatt
2) drugs kill

Hey dummy, (sorry I had to return the favor of calling me names) drugs don't kill.

Run out and buy a few kilos of coke. put them on your kitchen table. Id bet if you walked by it for the rest of your life, you wouldn't get killed.

However, if you stuck two straws up your nose and tooted 'till the cows come home, you'd be dead.

Guess what? YOU'VE JUST KILLED YOURSELF.

Simple concept, really....I'm always amazed people can't grasp something as rudementary as this.

We need to thin the herd....dumb-asses will always kill themselves. Please stop wasting my money trying to stop the inevitable.
47 posted on 12/05/2002 5:30:08 AM PST by taxed2death
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To: Houmatt
And who did the poll? When?

"In February 2001 the Pew Research Center polled people on the nation's drug war. In September and again in late November and early December 2001, Peter D. Hart Research Associates surveyed people on crime and punishment for George Soros' Open Society Institute.

"Respondents to both polls largely agree that the war on drugs has been a failure. In the Pew poll, 74 percent agreed with the statement "We are losing the drug war." Seventy percent in Hart's September poll said the war on drugs had been "more of a failure" than a success." - http://www.rollcall.com/pages/columns/bowman/00/2002/bowm0307.html

Nobody I know thinks we should just throw up our hands and legalize drugs.

The people you know are a non-randomly selected group, so what is true about them cannot be reliably extrapolated to the larger population.

And I have never been called and polled about anything.

So I seriously doubt the veracity of any poll

Which proves only your ignorance of basic statistical methods.

48 posted on 12/05/2002 5:42:35 AM PST by MrLeRoy
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To: fporretto
Are you quite sure of that figure?

Quite---see post 48.

The last I saw a survey, 88% of respondents approved of the Drug War and wanted to see it continued at least.

Have a source for that?

one doesn't argue for a policy position by using its popularity.

Nor have I---I was merely correcting Houmatt's error (who seems to have been arguing for a policy position by using its popularity).

49 posted on 12/05/2002 6:02:40 AM PST by MrLeRoy
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To: Rocksalt
I'd be curious to know what polls say about if people favor legalization of narcotics or not.

Then look into it: www.google.com.

50 posted on 12/05/2002 6:13:51 AM PST by MrLeRoy
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To: MrLeRoy
ending the war on drugs and decriminalizing drugs are two very different things.
51 posted on 12/05/2002 6:31:02 AM PST by Teacher317
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To: Teacher317
ending the war on drugs and decriminalizing drugs are two very different things.

I know that---but I guess whoever writes the Middletown Press' headlines doesn't.

52 posted on 12/05/2002 6:38:07 AM PST by MrLeRoy
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To: MrLeRoy
bttt
53 posted on 12/05/2002 6:41:29 AM PST by lodwick
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To: Houmatt
Alcohol and nicotine kill far more.
Exactly. And that is because they are legal, not in spite of it.

This is your best point, and has made me stop and think for a few minutes. Then I realized where the difference of opinion comes from. You seem to be indicating that it is the job of government to regulate, criminalize, or control almost any inanimate object that could injure the user when it is used or abused. Many here disagree, wanting the government to have as little to do with our daily lives as possible.

Is it the government's job to protect us from ourselves doing unhealthy things?

Many pro-WOD would say that drugs harm more than the user. My response would be that law enforcement should handle those effects without making the item in question illegal. Auto accidents kill 55,000 per year but cars should not be declared off-limits. Police regulate the cars speed; legislatures control the safety, emissions, and licensing; individuals are left to enjoy the "privilege" of driving as they see fit after that. Many are abusive, and are punished for those abuses. Why aren't drugs controlled, monitored, and enforced the same way (controlling their potency, content, and strength; punishing those who used them in ways that harmed or endangered others after the fact; and leaving citizens the freedom to use recreationally)? Yes, the number of deaths may increase... so what? It is not the government's job to make us as healthy as possible against our will.

54 posted on 12/05/2002 6:47:53 AM PST by Teacher317
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To: MrLeRoy
LOL, sorry, I didn't mean to address it to you. =^)
55 posted on 12/05/2002 6:48:22 AM PST by Teacher317
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To: Houmatt
BTW, I'm merely discussing policies, logic and philosophy. I'm perfectly happy to keep drugs illegal, as long as the very damaging WOD is ended. No-knock raids, confiscation of THE TITLE TO property, and the ability to jail he smallest infractions (kinda like jailing someone for going 5mph over the speed limit) are all doing more harm to our liberties than good.
56 posted on 12/05/2002 6:53:05 AM PST by Teacher317
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To: Teacher317
you go, Teach!.. To bad you are not in Fairfax county.
We could use a couple of thousand of you our here, outside the beltway.
57 posted on 12/05/2002 7:06:08 AM PST by vin-one
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To: Houmatt
You mean, the ones in two states?
You must be lookin for an argument, That one is so easy to refute...
Effective medical marijuana laws in eight states
Get your facts straight before re-posting so you will not further embarass yourself.
Maybe you should follow your own advice...
58 posted on 12/05/2002 8:19:49 AM PST by philman_36
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To: Houmatt
The poll was conducted for George Soros' Open Society Institute. You can count on those numbers (/sarcasm).
59 posted on 12/05/2002 8:25:28 AM PST by robertpaulsen
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To: dcwusmc
You COULD be an actual idiot, for all I know.

I've always admired your keen insight and judge of character :<)

60 posted on 12/05/2002 8:26:23 AM PST by clamper1797
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