Need some information on how the war on drugs has failed

[kevin92]

Hey guys, I'm doing an essay describing how the war on drugs has failed in America. I'm trying to figure out 3 sub-topics, and if you guys have any good sites with helpful info it would be greatly appreciated.

[Frog]

Just browse through the News.
420 NEWS - 420 Magazine

You'll see the source links at the very bottom of the post.

A Bright Green Spot in the Economy

[Soniq420]

Primary thesis could be that the war has failed by any meaningful metric. There are no stated objectives that have been accomplished (see Stash.NORML.org)

The "war' continues to consume ever increasing levels of the public's scarce resources that could otherwise be used for productive purposes


20 million Americans have been arrested in the past 71 years, 90 percent for simple possession. The cottage industry that this has created and that has become self sustaining and is required to lie to the people by Federal statute The Drug Czar Is Required By Law To Lie.


- oversized prison guard unions
- police force size and resources they pull in (police could be spending their time chasing actual criminals)
- prison builders and all those they employ
- loss of freedom for people arrrested for victimless "crimes"

you could probably elaborate on 20 or 30 more examples from here but this is a reasonable start

[HomeGrownSWND]

Norm Chomsky has a very short and sweet book about "The war on (certain) drugs"

pretty good book. talks about how the war on drugs is limited to our sacred mother Mary Jane and not to nicotine because it is in the back pocket of many politicians.

later

[darkrail]

There are so many answers possible to this question, and all of them are probably right.

My favorite argument is always to look at the recent history of alcohol prohibition in the US. Here we have a case that is easy to study: alcohol was banned, the economy suffered, organized crime skyrocketed, and most people still drank anyway.

Now compare with today: the government has banned many drugs, organized crime is skyrocketing, the economy is in the toilet, and just about anyone who wants any drug still manages to use it anyway.

In both cases the laws cause few (if any) positives, while inflicting incalculable negatives.

This is the pragmatist's argument. Whether or not you agree with the stated goals and values of drug warriors, their efforts have always always always failed. And they always will fail in any society with any semblance of freedom. Freedom and prohibition are incompatible.

Or... you could attack the goals and values of the drug warriors based on the idea that "victimless crimes" aren't crimes.

[bubblebagman]

hey kevin92.....I dont know if you've heard about "L.E.A.P." (law enforcement against prohibition). They have alot of supporters from police, lawyers, judges and even U.S Senators. They have tons of info on how the war on drugs has failed. This might be a good start for you.

[StonerGrower]

the war on drugs hasnt failed. In fact it hasnt even started, right now its just a war on a plant while all the crack and ****** dealers run free on the streets.

[bubblebagman]

I'm gonna agree, I should have had that in my original message. Marijuana is not a drug, It's been considered a drug by the gov for the sake of keeping it illegal. They(the gov) states that it is illegal for the fact that it alters your state of mind....What doesn't ?...When i get happy my state of mind changes, when I get nervous my state of mind changes, when i get angry my state of mind changes etc.......I'd like a gov representative to explain this one to me.......if he/she can.

[greenmonkey]

Originally Posted by bubblebagman

I'm gonna agree, I should have had that in my original message. Marijuana is not a drug, It's been considered a drug by the gov for the sake of keeping it illegal. They(the gov) states that it is illegal for the fact that it alters your state of mind....What doesn't ?...When i get happy my state of mind changes, when I get nervous my state of mind changes, when i get angry my state of mind changes etc.......I'd like a gov representative to explain this one to me.......if he/she can.

what i find even more retarded than their explaination of why its illegal is the fact that it is a schedule 1 drug. no medical purpose, yet there are quite a few pharmicutical companies that use active ingredients of herb in their medicene. now the government could make up some arguement of why the plant is different from pharm drugs but then you remember that the US gov provides cannibas for 7 people for medical purposes.
with all this oxymoronic thinking in the heads of state no wonder america is going down the shatter.
im going to smoke a bowl before i get too angry at the government and start burning things

[bubblebagman]

See, the thing about the U.S. gov not legalizing MJ is because belive it or not...They control the major drug trade in your country....Does anybody believe the gov actually disposses of MJ after a bust? I dont. I believe they distribute it across the country and actually profit from it. The prohibition of MJ makes it easier for the gov to profit, and arrest anyone who competes....making a monopoly out of the whole MJ industry. Now with a monopoly in the MJ industry, would the cost go up. You're damn right it would...Why do you U.S. citizens think MJ is so expensive in your country? Because this has already happened. They might make it legal for medicinal use, but thats only because they would still recieve their money from health insurance companies...While anyone else who produces or sells would be put in prison....Pretty good business for the U.S. gov wouldnt you say?.....................Just off topic....I want people to know that here in Canada in 2005, it cost the tax payer $42,000 to house 1 inmate in prison for a single year....Now think of all those people serving time for simple MJ offenses....pretty retarded huh.

[Frog]

I wonder what we would look like today if,
Henry Ford had Insisted on hemp cars burning vegetable/hemp oil.
All the plastic in the world was compost-able.

It's not justa' pot head issue anymore, if it ever was.

[bubblebagman]

well, Im sure we wouldnt be in other countries stealing their oil...We probably wouldnt have issues with our ozone layer either......but people wouldnt change....the greed of our society, is a good reason why MJ is illegal to begin with.

[kevin92]

I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who contributed their ideas, they were greatly appreciated.
The essay is now done, however there's no reason some good talks can't take place here.
Thanks again!

[bubblebagman]

no problems kevin92....heres some +rep for luck with your essay