How long do you fight a war that cannot be won? Lawrence O'Donnell asked the both moral and political question in the latest Rewrite.
We fought the Vietnam War long past the point when we knew we could not win, and in the process sent 58,193 Americans to die there in a 14-year period. America's so-called War on Drugs to end illegal drug consumption is now 41-years-old. How's that for perspective?
The war plan was simple: the price of drugs would be driven sky-high as the government seized more and more drugs and made drugs more rare — and therefore, way more expensive. That hasn't been the case in reality. While well-intentioned, it has left countless victims in its wake while only driving the cost of many drugs down.
Eduardo Porter reported last month in the New York Times that, according to Drug Enforcement Administration data, the street price of one gram of pure cocaine is in fact 74 percent cheaper than it was 30 years ago.
So, again, we ask how long do you fight a war that cannot be won?
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Speaking of a wonderful moment at the gop convention is...
when they put up banners for....WomanforMDs.
SUPPORTED BY Barbara and, the other one..
WE NEED FEMALE DOCTORS NOW! AFTER IRAQ.
OR GEO or, the other ones are still in looking the desert....
Please tell me why that Tennessee lunatic is not being investigated by the secret service for his incendiary email regarding an assasination on Mrs. Obama. How relevant is is that the email cites it as being fabricated; is there a significant difference between a real assissination and a bogus attempt. America is no a country where we need to encourage crazies.
Thanks Lawrence for the right on comments about the war on drugs. We need to end it now and put all the money we spend now on rehab for those that need and want it. Otherwise we need to allow people the same freedom that those that prefer to drink beer get. Prohibition did not work on booze and it's not going to work on drugs. 40+ years of this war has proved that it has not been working and will never work!
Lawrence your rewrite on the Drug War was simply powerful, solid with a message that needs to be expanded on often, put in these same terms. sorry to do this but you might visit or have someone visit still in progress but all did by myself, but not boring.
Vidanusa
The Drug War
Forty Years of failure, a wasted Trillion Dollars, and the caging of many tens of millions of millions of our fellow Americans. What do the Prohibitionists want? More time, more money and the jailing of millions of more Americans. End this morally bankrupt policy, NOW. LEAP.cc NYPD, ret.
Nice Straw Man you set up to knock down, Little Lying Larry, The War on drugs never had tactics "designed to drive up the price of drugs"; the War on Drugs did provide tax monies to help educate against the use and abuse of illegal drugs, especially aimed at our youth, it provided money for rehabilitation centers, for methodone treatments provided to heroin addicts, it provided monies primarily to convience people not to be buyers of illegal drugs.
And it also sought to interdict the drugs coming into our country, to go after the commercial marijauna growers and the meth lab cookers and the dealers and the kingpins. It was money spent well, and also monies spent in Central America and in far off places like the poppy field of Afghanistan to try to turn the tide against the poisions that were finding their way to bored teenagers in surburbia and down on their luck deadbeats and the mentally ill and the party hardy crowd in our urban centers. Of course, that latter catagory often evolved into the second group there, the down on the luckers that cost our social and medical systems so much.
Restrict the sale of tobacco products and tax the tobacco products and educate against the use of tobacco products, restrict the sale of alcohol products and tax the alcohol products and educate against the use of alcohol products is all right with you I assume? And that drives the price of tobacco and alcohol up, yes! But the people least likely to have the discretionary dollars to pay those higher prices, the lower middle class and working class folks still pony up for their legal drugs of choice, don't they. And the social and medical costs go on, don't they.
The legalization of drugs is not the way to go...it accomplishes nothing...only interdiction of illegal drugs, punishment factors especially for the dealers and kingpins in the trade whereever they might be found, and education and rehabilitation for the addicted or seriel abusers of illegal drugs can not be replaced by legalization and have any impact at all.
You and Bloomberg and Como are completly mistaken if you believe it would. Have you been to Amsterdam lately? Check that legal drug free metropolis out sometime, and see what that course has wrought.
War on drugs = failure. Reagan's Iran Contra was an arms smuggling-coke smuggling scheme. Fast and Furious is the modern day version of that. American. Too much corruption in the drug war...time to end it.
Keith Longey Your a fool No question about it. The availability of illicit drugs is higher then its ever been. All that money down the drain and no helpful effects. Instead the FDA introduces the alternative Which are far more dangerous and have many unwanted side effects. You obviously have never been a recreational drug user. One of the original constitutional rights of Americans was that the government could not regulate what you put in your body. That one as well as many others are long and gone. Your looking at it as getting rid of so called kingpins Meanwhile more simple possession drug arrests are in jail then these Kingpins. Restrict tobacco huh. Restrict Alcohol Does prohibition ring a bell. That brought along bootleggers (the original drug dealers) a long with so many deaths from bathtub gin also huge gang wars that resulted in many deaths (remind you of anything?? how about the thousands of deaths in Mexico and South America as a result of the war on drugs). Your a moron and are a great example of whats wrong with America. Just blame everyone else right. Not the Gov. Your a fool Step into someone elses shoes before you ever start to judge. And dont think for a minute that the gov. does not have its hands in all the profiteering of the illegal drugs in America. Rehab, Drug testing, and drugs like Methadone and Suboxen, The whole DUI system-blowers- lawyer and court costs- and the list goes on. All gov. profiteering. George Bush was a convicted Drunk Driver not to mention has over ten months of unaccounted missed time in the national guard and he was president for 2 terms. Open your eyes guy! Your a moron and a fool
If you believe in the "war on drugs", you probably also believe in vampires and burning witches at the stake. 1.3 trillion dollars spent, the largest most expensive prison population on earth, millions of lives destroyed, tens of thousands dead, and all for what? What have we accomplished? This "war" has done more damage than all the drugs on earth ever could. It's like trying to fix a toothache with a sledge hammer. This stupidity has to stop.
Statistics show there are far fewer heroin addicted individuals in our nation in the early 21st Century than in the latter half of the 20th Century, decade to decades. Youth under 21 self report that they are using more marijuana than alcohol, (both illegal of course), but youth are notorious poor self reporters, often seeing the romantic and cool status in reporting regular participation in risky behavior, be it sex, drugs, or Moshe Pit rock and roll.
Show me the stats that says we are failing to make impacts on the use and abuse of illegal drugs...the most dangerous growth of abuse and addiction to drugs has come from the turn to prescription drugs specifically because the illegal drugs of choice are more difficult to find and obtain. If you were around in the 60s and 70s you would know opium based pain killers like darvocet and percocet, anxiety reducing and muscle relaxants like valium, and weight loss and stimulant drugs like amphetamines were widely prescribed and abuse and addiction a growing problem in our middle and upper class societies, Today, oxycontin and methadone, ridelien, and zanex are the replacement legal drugs to those old standbys that are causing so much problems, and they are legal, regulated, and fairly costly/ And to that you want to make all the illegal drugs legal, regulate them, and tax them to make them even more abundant and costly too? And for what end? For what end?
Keith Longey,
we've presented you with a fairly dissected view of the underbelly of prohibition. we have supplied you with ample evidence to show that it is needlessly and shamelessly costing lives, destroying families, and has become a scourge on the soul of our society. During the past 40 years alone, prohibition has caused the arrest of 45 million citizens, made the United States the world’s largest jailer, and destroyed impoverished communities at home and abroad. Yet, drugs are cheaper, purer, and more available today than ever. - What is it you don't understand about abject failure?
Why can't you admit the obvious? The misguided and counterproductive policy of prohibition has failed; the "unintended" consequences are disastrous. Untold Thousands of people have lost their lives in prohibition-associated violence. Drug lords have taken over entire communities. Misery has spread unabated and corruption is undermining fragile democracies everywhere.
We've had decades of interdictions, spraying and raids on jungle drug factories, but Latin America still remains the world's largest exporter of cocaine and marijuana, while Afghanistan, even with American occupation, continues to produce over 90% of the worlds opium and heroin.
To continue prohibition is ludicrous and if you can't see that by now, then you must be on something far stronger than any of us here have even heard of.
Yup...its called sobriety and clear headedness and vision.
The war on drugs created illegal drug money. Illegal drug money financed 9/11. America
went to two war zones in response to 9/11 –thus fighting drug money in Iraq and Afghanistan. The war on drugs has killed 6,000 plus U.S. soldiers . . . 3,000 on 9/11 and 10,000 in Vietnam. A few years of research would tell you all of
this . . . lots of books and travel will teach you that drug prohibition is the
main cause of our recession. According
to the NY Times and Brown University, America’s war on drugs cost $394.5 million a day
–most of that spent fighting drug money in the Middle East. Only a Muslim Terrorist would want to keep
the war on drugs going on. Even the DEA,
CIA, War College, U.N. etc etc etc etc etc etc
etc admit drug money created 9/11 and our current recession. Have you ever heard of Russia Keith –I bet
not or you would have known that a long 9yr war against Afghanistan in
the 1980’s fighting drug money to no avail, crumbled their economy, thus
causing them to go bankrupt and lose their states and satellites. The War on Drugs has outlawed millions of
jobs in the clothing, fuel, paper, plastics (biodegradable), furniture, paint,
cosmetics, food, housing, concrete, construction industries –all of which comes
form hemp, but hemp is illegal and therefore America is facing a high
unemployment rate with millions of jobs being outsourced because we are not
legally allowed to grow our own jobs like Washington and Jefferson etc . . .
like Henry Ford. The war on drugs is a
terrorists wet dream –today, only a Muslim Terrorist would want to keep the war
on drugs going.
The majority of prohibitionists profit on the drug war,
... and that is their only motive Keith.
Money Grubbing Dung Worriers
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/sreply/380
Forfeiture $quads
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/sreply/381
POLICING FOR PROFIT
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1743
"At DEA, our mission is to fight drug trafficking in order to make drug abuse the most expensive, unpleasant, risky, and disreputable form of recreation a person could have."
– Donnie Marshall, Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
"We have spent over a trillion dollars trying to eradicate the world's most beneficial plant off the face of the earth. Imagine what a better world this would be if that money had been spent on treatment, education and studying the medical benefits of marijuana."
-- Steve Hager - High Times Editor (1988 - 2003)
"The anti-marijuana campaign is a cancerous tissue of lies, undermining law enforcement, aggravating the drug problem, depriving the sick of needed help, and suckering well-intentioned conservatives and countless frightened parents. Narcotics police are an enormous, corrupt international bureaucracy ... and now fund a coterie of researchers who provide them with 'scientific support' ... fanatics who distort the legitimate research of others."
~ William F. Buckley, Jr. Requiescat In Pace
Commentary in The National Review, April 29, 1983, p. 495
The point is that the trillion of dollars is not view as a waste. There are plenty of individuals who profit greatly off of the illegalization of drugs. The prison system will lose a lot of money if drugs were legalized or use and possession decriminalized.
Not viewed as waste by whom? The Prohibitionist Parasites who feed off Drug War Money, which once was taxpayer money. If it were a business and failed as badly as this drug war has, it would have closed down 39 years ago. As for the prison industry, for the land of the free, having 25% of the world's prison population with only 5% of the world's population is a testimony to the laws failure. A 1000% increase since the "Drug War" started.
O'Donnell makes the only sane argument in this case.
I was mostly commenting to point out the error between the gram of cocaine he mentions at the beginning of the piece vs the graphic behind him claiming that an ounce of cocaine is $122.
Then I came across Keith Longey's foolish little screed. I always wonder if people like Keith are knowingly evil or just ignorant; then again, willful and deliberate ignorance is rather evil, so why split the difference?
Keith, of all the idiotic statements in your post, the one about Amsterdam was the most hilarious. Much lower rates of cannabis use, hard drug use, general crime, violent crime, sexual assault than ANY comparable US city. And by 'comparable', I'm including US towns with half the population of Amsterdam.
The standard of living for the average Dutch citizen is demonstrably higher than for a citizen of the US, by any metric you choose to use.
Not to suggest that this is the result of decriminalising cannabis, just that societies that are able to look at big issues without defaulting to cherished lies and reactionary ignorance tend to be better equipped to deal with those big issues.
Having visited Amsterdam in the early 70's, I am relieved to hear it hasn't changed, just maybe gotten better. Why do we, who claim to live in "The home of the free" try to make things better with such brutal methods? It seems we should be able to see the merit in removing the terrible but worthless sanctions against use of a simple plant. Next time you read a story about marijuana, try replacing that dreaded name with "dandelions". It would make as much sense and be a lot funnier!
This fall Washington State will decide on Initiative 502, which legalizes the possession of marijuana for adults age 21 and older. Check it out - I'm so proud of my state!!
I am so disappointed. What is Lawrence suggesting? Decriminalization is one thing. Does he suggest that we also control the flow?
As a mom, and a medical professional, I know of the dangers of even weed. Cannibis withdrawal is real. If in doubt, read the reasearch. Or, simply google "cannibis withdrawal." Weed is different now. Let's not allow it to be sold freely. Medical marijuana is a joke. The Rx is given, primarily, to those who have already been chronic weed smokers for many years. Research is showing that these RX's are primarily being used to treat one condition...chronic cannibis habit.
I've heard every argument in the book. I have three children who are all young adults. I grew up in the late seventies. I've been there. I also complete monthly CMEs and am thus forced to read the research.
Yes, Lawrence, without a doubt, you will have the support of all heavy weed smokers, as well as the general population age group of 16 - 24. You won't have the support of those of us with teenage children who are fighting, unsuccessfully, with the painful, and relatively new phenomenon, of cannibis withdrawal.
We as liberals have always supported the pursuit of health. We oppose dirty air and obesity.
I am still shocked. Evidently, The Last Word isn't aiming for my demographic!
i think your arguement has one flaw when it is regulated like a regular industry is regulated precautions are made to make sure kids dont get their hand on it. Do you not think that kids are popping pills like percocet because they are and its alot easier to get your hands on and its Deadly! Weed is not I understand weed shouldnt be on every corner so I think we should charge permits like they do liquor it would cost 100,000 to open a store. Being addicted to weed yes you can but thats no different than being addicted to oxy and those prescribed drugs again those pills you get from a doctor a doctor are so much more dangerous and I hope you can see that those suffering get more help from cannibis than any pill prescribed. Again if regulated tightly it can work but again an alcholic is alchilic so why can't a weed smoke smoke weed in the confines of his or her home. I understand your view but if your willing to let liquor stand and destroy lives than it is just disappointing on the part of those people. Smoke something safe instead of killing your body with liquor or ciggaretts.
"Weed is different now"
If by this you mean that cannabis now is more dangerous than cannabis was in the 70s - well, firstly, it's not obvious that that's true in all cases, you may need to be a bit more specific and state exactly <i>how</i> weed is different now, and what your evidence is; but giving you the benefit of the doubt, the obvious reply is that prohibition has either <i>caused</i> it to become more dangerous, or <i>utterly failed to prevent</i> it becoming more dangerous. Whatever factors make one variety of cannabis more dangerous, having a legally regulated market is the only way of ensuring we have more of the safer forms and less of the riskier. Prohibition ensures that the quality and strength of cannabis is entirely controlled by the people we can least expect to act responsibly - organised criminals.
"Cannibis withdrawal is real."
I'm not going to argue with you on this; I'm sure for a minority of users it is a genuine problem. However, that absolutely does not refute the fact that the policy of prohibition causes a whole raft of problems that are far worse than cannabis withdrawal, such as the USA having the largest prison population in the entire world, by a huge measure, wasting unimaginable sums on incarcerating people for being involved with a drug which, while certainly not 'safe', is nowhere near dangerous enough to justify incarceration and the lifelong stigma and loss of opportunities that flow from a criminal record; tens of thousands dead in Mexico over the last five-odd years as a result of conflict between drug cartels, the military and the police - violence that would simply not be happening if the trade in recreational drugs was taken out of the hands of criminals and regulated like any other trade in somewhat risky commodities; the denial of genuinely effective pain relief to people suffering from those conditions for which cannabis is an effective palliative (medical cannabis is only a 'joke' in the sense that it can sometimes be easy to get hold of it on medical grounds even if you don't have a genuine medical need; to the degree that people who do have a genuine medical need are forced to choose between suffering pain that they know there's a simple cure for vs. risking arrest and prosecution, it is no joke at all); the enormous levels of police corruption that flow from the inevitable fact that a cop can vastly boost their income by getting involved in the trade, or indeed the civil rights travesty that is the civil asset forfeiture scheme; the fact that in the absense of any regulatory control of the people who sell drugs at retail level, there is absolutely no control over how old you have to be to buy it (unlike with alcohol and tobacco) etc, etc. I'm aware that these problems are not exclusively cannabis related, but cannabis represents such a large fraction of the total market in currently-prohibited drugs that ending cannabis prohibition will massively reduce them all, even if it can't eliminate them.
As for dirty air; there's no reason why open air cannabis smoke would be worse than tobacco; unless you would also propose to criminalise all tobacco users, you are operating a double standard. And if it is a problem, there is no reason why we couldn't mandate that you couldn't use it in public.
This really isn't a question of research showing that cannabis is or isn't safe enough that you would want people to be using it in an ideal, all-other-things-being-equal world. All other things are very not equal. Cannabis prohibition imposes enormous harms on society. If you think all of the things listed above are a price worth paying, you must explain why you think the (probably modest) increase in cannabis use we would see after prohibition ends would be worse than all of them put together.
Legalization with regulation would cripple if not totally eliminate the black market.
Please tell us more about the "enormous harms" marijuana legaliztion would bring on society. TIA
"After Prohibition was repealed, it became harder to get a drink!" Ken Burns in his documentary on prohibition.
Al Capone was replaced by Taxpaying, Job Creating Busch, Coors, Seagrams and a slew of other legitimate businesses. the Model is in place, especially for marijuana. For dabgerous hard drug, look to Portugal's solution.
Weed withdrawal? How about coffee or ice cream withdrawal? Marijuana is not SO dangerous that it deserves to be banned. Guns, alcohol, tobacco, and FDA approved drugs kill 480,000 Americans each year. Marijuana kills ___?? Zero? Weed is different now? Well, for those folks who choose to smoke it, rather than safer means of ingestion, it means that they are smoking less of it to get the same effect. And smoking less is bad.....how?
It's true, weed withdrawal is real...
...last time I quit, my wife said I was a grouch for 2 whole weeks!
It is also far more a far more effective treatment for my clinical depression...
...suicidal thoughts still happen, but now I don't have the ambition to follow through on them!
Lady, please go to a REAL rehab center and watch someone detoxing off heroin and then come lecture us about the horrors of "gasp" marijuana withdrawal. Watch someone shake so bad you think they are going to die because when they are an alcoholic. You not only insult real addiction with that stupidity you insult yourself. Marijuana is not physically addictive, it can be "mentally" addictive for a few users who take it to the extreme. The same dreaded "mental" addiction that affects people who are "addicted" to sex, video games, or red meat. That is a FAR cry from real addiction. Filling your kids up with silly stories won't keep them safe. Try a little honesty, marijuana isn't for children, so don't use it. But stop trying to act like we are talking about some dangerous addictive drug (like coke, beer, cigarettes, Vicodin, heroin, meth, or xanax) because we simply are not. Science says you don't know what you're talking about, I think I'm going to trust facts over "duhh well this aint the weed of yester year" nonsense.
ssinp, most of us know that individuals who use illegal drugs are going to get high—no matter what, so why do you not prefer they acquire them in stores that check IDs and pay taxes? Gifting the market in narcotics to ruthless criminals, foreign terrorists, and corrupt law enforcement officials is seriously compromising our future.
Why do you wish to continue with a policy that has proven itself to be a poison in the veins of our once so "proud & free" nation? Even if you cannot bear the thought of people using drugs, there is absolutely nothing you, or any government, can do to stop them. We have spent 40 years and trillions of dollars on this dangerous farce; Prohibition will not suddenly and miraculously start showing different results. Do you actually believe you may personally have something to lose If we were to begin basing our drug policy on science & logic instead of ignorance, hate and lies?
Maybe you're a police officer, a prison guard, or a local/national politician. Possibly you're scared of losing employment, overtime pay, the many kickbacks, and those regular fat bribes. But what good will any of that do you once our society has followed Mexico over the dystopian abyss of dismembered bodies, vats of acid, and marauding thugs carrying gold-plated AK-47s with leopard-skinned gunstocks?
Kindly allow us to forgo the next level of your sycophantic prohibition-engendered mayhem.
Prohibition prevents regulation: legalize, regulate, and tax!
ssinp, a real medical professional would not be ignorant of the following scientific fact:
Marijuana is less addictive than a cup of tea.
http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/basicfax5.htm
Dr. Jack E. Henningfield of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Dr. Neal L. Benowitz of the University of California at San Francisco ranked six psychoactive substances on five criteria.
Withdrawal -- The severity of withdrawal symptoms produced by stopping the use of the drug.
Reinforcement -- The drug's tendency to induce users to take it again and again.
Tolerance -- The user's need to have ever-increasing doses to get the same effect.
Dependence -- The difficulty in quitting, or staying off the drug, the number of users who eventually become dependent
Intoxication -- The degree of intoxication produced by the drug in typical use.
The tables listed below show the rankings given for each of the drugs. Overall, their evaluations for the drugs are very consistent. It is notable that marijuana ranks below caffeine in most addictive criteria, while alcohol and tobacco are near the top of the scale in many areas.
The rating scale is from 1 to 6 --- 1 denotes the drug with the strongest addictive tendencies, while 6 denotes the drug with the least addictive tendencies.
HENNINGFIELD RATINGS
Substance Withdrawal Reinforcement Tolerance Dependence Intoxication
Nicotine 3 4 2 1 5
Heroin 2 2 1 2 2
Cocaine 4 1 4 3 3
Alcohol 1 3 3 4 1
Caffeine 5 6 5 5 6
Marijuana 6 5 6 6 4
BENOWITZ RATINGS
Substance Withdrawal Reinforcement Tolerance Dependence Intoxication
Nicotine 3 4 4 1 6
Heroin 2 2 2 2 2
Cocaine 3 1 1 3 3
Alcohol 1 3 4 4 1
Caffeine 4 5 3 5 5
Marijuana 5 6 5 6 4
I doubt pot addiction is real when you compare it to a drug money financed 9/11 sending our soldiers to fight drug money terrorism and insurgencies in the Middle East. There is no such thing as weed withdraws in comparison to PTSD from combat -fighting drug money -getting blown up by a drug money bought bomb. A real doctor would realized smoking pot is healthier than a bullet in the head or a blown off leg . . . heroin is far more healthier than dying in a combat zone fighting drug money in Iraq . . . 6,000 U.S. soldiers would tell you that if they were still alive . . . there is no proof drugs are bad or addictive or dangeorus when you compare it to being in a war fighting drug money in the Middle East. Drugs have never harmed a family -but drug financed wars have slaughtered thousands of families.
@ ssinp. For a medical professional, you are woefully misinformed.
I strongly suggest you educate yourself on the facts are Cannabis and the real patients of medical Cannabis.
Please google: Cash Hyde
There are plenty of Medical and scientific resources available for you to review, please educate yourself. I would recommend the below link for fully accredited continuing education.
Google: Patients out of time or Medical cannabis.com
That said... The point is:
“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” - Thomas Jefferson
Good Jefferson quote. Of course he had a pro-weed bias because he and George Washington were marijuana growers. How about this quote from the guy who outlawed marijuana in 1937:
Harry J. Anslinger (Federal Bureau of Narcotics) said, “Prohibition, conceived as a moral attempt to improve the American way of life, would ultimately cast the nation into a turmoil. One cannot help but think in retrospect that prohibition, by depriving Americans of their “vices,” only created the avenues through which organized crime got its firm foothold.”
CJ Maestas.
I don't believe you will find more convincing, or credible, or easy to understand; than this: (especially check under the rationale tab).
#
Evidently links don't post, so here it goes without the 3 w's.
dsm5(dot)org/ProposedRevision/Pages/proposedrevision(dot)aspx?rid=430#
#
I seen your episode on the war on drugs i seen one big mistake with it though you pulled up a diagram of what a gram of cocaine is worth now that is a big falsehood. I forget where you got the number from but i know various amounts of people who divulge in the consumption of drugs and i know for a fact you can get a gram of cocaine for 100 maybe 120 at the most the scary thing is when people as for that much the dealer doesnt actually way it he actually eyes it out. One last thing you actually see in the big cities people asking for less than a gram people asking for 50 dollars worth and sometimes 20 dollars worth its a scary thing becasue its alot more prevelant that way and the dealer makes more money.
Lawrence......who names their kid Lawrence? You are the most inebt hack journalist going today. To think that we should just pull the plug on stopping drugs from entering into this country, is the most insane thing I have ever heard. Your description of using drugs as just a fad is simply just irresponsible. I'm sure that heroin junky I saw begging for cash at the bottom of a highway off ramp figures his addiction will simply pass, because it's just a fad. I give you credit, in your "Re-write" segment, you covered every bias there was, including the Black agenda. Very well done......NOT!!! I enjoy watching you from time to time, not because you are anything special or have any substance to your journalistic skill. I simply watch to see your hack skills in action. You should put in for a spot on SNL, because you really are a clown, if there ever was. MAJOR FAIL LAWRENCE....MAJOR FAIL!!!!!
"just pull the plug on stopping drugs from entering into this country"? Our govt has become involved the import of drugs and the export of guns. The corruption is inevitable when the agents don't have to follow the law and their incentive has become money, not protecting public safety.
How about the DEA secretly using private vehicles to import weed?
"The phone rang before sunrise. It woke Craig Patty, owner of a tiny North Texas trucking company, to vexing news about Truck 793 — a big red semi supposedly getting repairs in Houston.
“Your driver was shot in your truck,” said the caller, a business colleague. “Your truck was loaded with marijuana. He was shot eight times while sitting in the cab. Do you know anything about your driver hauling marijuana?”
“What did you say?” Patty recalled asking. “Could you please repeat that?”
The truck, it turned out, had been everywhere but in the repair shop.
Commandeered by one of his drivers, who was secretly working with federal agents, the truck had been hauling marijuana from the border as part of an undercover operation. And without Patty's knowledge, the Drug Enforcement Administration was paying his driver, Lawrence Chapa, to use the truck to bust traffickers.
Read more: #ixzz22PxhHw8A
First of all as a conservative I think Lawrence is an idiot, but judging by your comment you might not be far behind. So the "heroin junkie" is better off in prison than on drugs? Please explain how that works Einstein, you do know what happens in prisons don't you? Did you know the average sentence served in prison (not given in sentencing, but actually served) for murder is just north of seven years? Bet you didn't. Can you guess why? It's because over half the people being sent to prison are there for VICTIMLESS CRIMES, AKA nonsense. We have pedophiles, rapists, murderers, and gang bangers getting out early to make room for people who like to get high once in a while, that is beyond absurd. And by the way, you use drugs yourself you sorry "druggie". Unless you want me to believe you never drink beer, never drink wine, never drink coffee, never take Advil or any other pain medication, never go to the dentist and get a shot, never fill a prescription, never take 5 hour energy, then you are a drug user. And every single one of those "drugs" is more harmful than marijuana. Watch out with those rocks Mr. Glass house man, you might break something.
Here is my take Joe. You can throw sticks and stones at me all you want. Shows me the kind of small mind you have. Liberals have those same behaviors, so check yourself at the door about being Conservative. The herion junkie, if in prison has the ability to receive help. On the street, he has the ability to be dead. Maybe the next time a junkie robs your mom coming out of the super market, knocks her down and steals her purse for the cash, you may have a different take about whether or not that person should do time? There is never a victimless crime ever...period. I'm not sure where you are getting your stats on time served, but the number I heard was for every ten years sentenced, you serve actually two years. As far as people who have used drugs once...twice...?? Simple. You are committing a crime period. You commit the crime, you do the time as the old saying goes. If I have never drank before and decide to do so, I jump behind the wheel of a car and crash into a house or smash another car? Well technically you could say that because no one was injured, it was a victimless crime? So by your own defintion, I shouldn't go to jail. No matter the crime Joe, there are always victims. The fact that I drink beer, wine etc is not up for discussion. Why? Simply because at this point in time, they are all LEGAL!!! People have to be accountable for their actions period. It is a personal choice on whether they want to smoke weed, do coke, boot heroin or anything else for that matter. That's why the good Lord gave us the ability to reason. As far as those so called "rocks' you talk about. I use plexi-glass in my glass house. I think I'm pretty safe from anything breaking.
Drugs being illegal financed 9/11. Drug money killed 6,000 U.S. soldiers in the Middle East. Drug money killed at least 10,000 U.S. soldiers in Nam. Drug money killed at least 8% of all the genocide victims of Cambodia (80,000). Only a Muslim Terrorist would want to keep drugs illegal in the U.S. What would you rather have in this life: people addicted to drugs because they so chose to or being in the middle of 9/11 and watching the towers collapsed because some stupid lazy cop didn't do their job to bust 100% of all the world's drug users before drug money can create 9/11 and the wars in the Middle East. I had to clean up some stupid American cop's mess in Iraq . . . My friends got killed because some lazy cop refused to go out and work longer hours for less pay just to rid all the world's drugs and drug users. It didn't work for Soviet Russia -which is why we call them Russia and not the U.S.S.R. -they learned the hard way that one cannot win a long war in Afghanistan fighting drug money . . . I bet you didn't even know America was at war. Thank you for trying to kill me in 2008 -too bad 6000 dead U.S. troops couldn't teach you a leason -I wish I didn't fight for your right to have free speech you American hater (actions speak louder than words) . . . shame on you for wanting drugs to be illegal at the cost of sending your nation to a $3trillion dollar war fighting drug money financed enemies . . . you're a baby killer with the way you vote and think. Cause and Effect sucks.
There are many things that America does that I wish they weren't involved in. America has been at war for decades. Proxy wars, covert wars. It has nothing to do with drugs with what you're speaking of. It has to do with greed. That's right greed. Greed killed all those soldiers. Money makes the world go round as the old saying goes. Drugs are but a small part of the greed cycle. Don't point your finger at me and call me un-American or baby killer. Point your finger at the politicians and the big cooperations. They're are the ones who feed this frezy. No matter what side of the isle you vote for? Another thing too, don't cast blame on me for my ability to express my right for free speech. It's not the fact that you serve, it's the factor of how you signed up to fight. If you volunteered to do so, then it was your own decision to do so. Your reasons are your own. You cannot lay that trip on me. Guess what? I had two friends killed in Iraq. It's war and people die. My friends did not sign up or die, so you could pass on blame because you realized that what you thought you were fighting for wasn't just. That is your cross to bear my friend. Just like our friend Joe who commented above, I say the same thing to you? Let some junkie injure or kill your mother for a $20 hit of heroine or meth. Then ask your self the same question you asked me? Being addicted to drugs or 9/11? If you ponder on the first question and then the second, you may have a different take. You're a patriot for your service, but you're a coward for your feeble excuses and attempt to cast blame on a subject, where you obvioulsy wear blinders.
I thought this the bravest and most powerful editorial I have ever seen.
I am in my 70's. I am a white WASP. I have never taken drugs or misused a prescription. I am not in favor of drug use and believe that use of drugs progressively limits and then destroys both the quality of a life and then the physical life itself. This impacts not just the drug user but anyone with whom he or she is in contact. I make this statement to establish that I am not an apologist for drug use.
However, whenever there is a serious persistent personal or social problem any honest person has to ask the question: Does this way of solving the problem work? This editorial was a brilliant presentation which demonstrated the bankruptcy of this country's formal drug policy. It simply does not work. And you do not have to know the answer to the problem to let go of a failed solution. Indeed often we cannot open up to a new solution until there has been an admission of that failure.
The editorial, wisely, did not explore the full extent of the social problems this country has with drugs (not that he would necessarily agree with me):
1. There is political hypocrisy which it will take a brave man to breach. No politician wants to be the first to face the truth they probably already know. It took Nixon to recognize China decades after it was apparent that our "cold war" Taiwan policy was absurd.
2. There are strong legal and illegal economic vested interests opposed to any change in policy that will reduce their funding, jobs or profits. And these interests spend money- legally with lobbyists- illegally with bribes and hidden "money laundered" political contributions- to maintain the status quo.
3. The failed drug policy has had a destructive impact on a much broader portion of our society than is publicly discussed. And there is massive political resistance to facing some of those issues. If we take the money out of illegal drug use it will force a social confrontation which will not be comfortable. Young African American males grow up in environments where only the drug trade seems to offer any economic opportunity. I believe that drug money fuels gang violence, illegal weapon use and the ghetto life. Take this drug money away and there will be major social problems with the "lost generations" we already have. Even more difficulties and disruptions in replacing the "opportunities" of drugs with other social paths to growth. But I do not believe that there will be changes in gang violence and illegal weapon use until we do.
Enough. I know everything I have said is only a superficial gloss on the depth of the problem. I certainly will not live long enough to see the solution. I am delighted, however, that I lived long enough to see this brilliant challenge to the status quo presented on a major commercial network by a brave man. It was much, much more than I ever expected to see.
If we don't control the flow, black market dealers will. Regulation will do that, as it did after the repeal of the other prohibition. If you wnt to keep anything out of the hands of our kids, we must first take control of the supply away from black market dealers, who will sell anything to anyone.
Cannabis withdrawl is weaker than caffeine withdrawl. Two doctor evaluated them and other drugs and rated them. One doctor is a former NIDA employee. Their bios are in the cited link.
As for marijuana's potency, then and now, it's irrelevant as no one has ever overdosed on marijuana AND Baccardi 151 Rum is 8 times as potent as beer. People just use less.
AND here is a DEA commission report,they assigned to THEIR Administrative Judge Young.
Judge Francis Young rules marijuana is safe, 1988, DEA, USA
www.ccguide.org/young88.php
We need only to familiarize ourselves with the goals and objectives of Healthy People 2020, to realize that Obama's Affortable Care Act is in full compliance, and O'Donnells commentary is in direct opposition.
It is irresponsible to support the decriminalization of drugs, without addressing the rising incidence of dependancy in this country.
If we could go back, would we legalize cigarettes today? Cigarette addiction is as hard, if not harder, to treat than is heroin addiction.
Lawrence should be more fully informed on all aspects of drug abuse, before he, irresponsibly, panders to a younger demographic.
"would we legalize cigarettes today?" How can you legalize something that has not been banned? You are assuming that it is the role of govt to make every personal decision for us. Would a cigarette ban be enforceable, or would cops and judges buy cigs from the cartels, just like they bought booze from Al Capone back in the 20's and 30's?
"It is irresponsible to support the decriminalization of drugs"? Is that because the criminalization of drugs has stopped use and trafficking? If so, please cite. My data says something else.
Portugal decriminalized marijuana in 2001, and "between 2001 and 2006 in Portugal, rates of lifetime use of any illegal drug among seventh through ninth graders fell from 14.1% to 10.6%; drug use in older teens also declined". Source: #ixzz1puDAayjF
It's true, weed withdrawal is real...
...last time I quit, my wife said I was a grouch for 2 whole weeks!
It is also far more a far more effective treatment for my clinical depression...
...suicidal thoughts still happen, but now I don't have the ambition to follow through on them!
"It is irresponsible to support the decriminalization of drugs, without addressing the rising incidence of dependancy in this country."
do the research, using a model similar to Portugal's will decrease incidence of dependancy, unlike the current prohibition model that is actually contributing to the "rising incidence of dependancy in this country."
We have the largest most expensive prison population on earth. We waste over 50 billion dollars a year criminalizing something that isn't a real crime? We have spent over 1.3 TRILLION dollars on this farce, when is enough enough? Why not criminalize everything that's dangerous? Why don't we make mountain climbing illegal? If we knew what we know today, would fast food be illegal? Obesity kills millions more than illegal drug use. Prescription drugs kill over 40,000 people a year, far more than all the illegal drugs on earth combined, should we outlaw all pharmacies? That's not freedom, that's stupidity. Your logic is lacking...well any logic.
ssinp, again you show your ignorance of scientific data:
1) Tobacco is cancer causing largely because it delivers specific carcinogens such as NNK and NNAL that are not present in cannabis. Not all "tar" is created equal, and tobacco has some of the most carcinogenic types of tar known to science, whereas cannabis does not.
http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/91/14/1194
2) Cannabis (marijuana) use is associated with a DECREASE in several types of cancer... potentially even providing a protective effect against tobacco and alcohol related cancer development.
Donald Tashkin, a UCLA researcher whose work is funded by NIDA, did a case-control study comparing 1,200 patients with lung, head and neck cancers to a matched group with no cancer. Even the heaviest marijuana smokers had no increased risk of cancer, and had somewhat lower cancer risk than non-smokers (tobacco smokers had a 20-fold increased lung cancer risk). Tashkin D. Marijuana Use and Lung Cancer: Results of a Case-Control Study. American Thoracic Society International Conference. May 23, 2006.
Researchers at the Kaiser-Permanente HMO, funded by NIDA, followed 65,000 patients for nearly a decade, comparing cancer rates among non-smokers, tobacco smokers, and marijuana smokers. Tobacco smokers had massively higher rates of lung cancer and other cancers. Marijuana smokers who didn't also use tobacco had no increase in risk of tobacco-related cancers or of cancer risk overall. In fact their rates of lung and most other cancers were slightly lower than non-smokers. Sidney, S. et al. Marijuana Use and Cancer Incidence (California, United States). Cancer Causes and Control. Vol. 8. Sept. 1997, p. 722-728.
In a 1994 study the government tried to suppress, federal researchers gave mice and rats massive doses of THC, looking for cancers or other signs of toxicity. The rodents given THC lived longer and had fewer cancers, "in a dose-dependent manner" (i.e. the more THC they got, the fewer tumors). NTP Technical Report On The Toxicology And Carcinogenesis Studies Of 1-Trans- Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, CAS No. 1972-08-3, In F344/N Rats And B6C3F Mice, Gavage Studies. See also, "Medical Marijuana: Unpublished Federal Study Found THC-Treated Rats Lived Longer, Had Less Cancer," AIDS Treatment News no. 263, Jan. 17, 1997.
Federal researchers implanted several types of cancer, including leukemia and lung cancers, in mice, then treated them with cannabinoids (unique, active components found in marijuana). THC and other cannabinoids shrank tumors and increased the mice's lifespans. Munson, AE et al. Antineoplastic Activity of Cannabinoids. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Sept. 1975. p. 597-602.
Cannabinoids Curb Brain Tumor Growth, First-Ever Patient Trial Shows
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6947
Pot Compound May Offer Non-Toxic Alternative To Chemotherapy
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7433
Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits lung cancer as well as metastasis
http://www.nature.com/onc/journal/v27/n3/abs/1210641a.html
Inhibition of skin tumor growth by activation of cannabinoid receptors
http://www.jci.org/articles/view/16116/version/1
So there we have it: Tobacco Causes Cancer and Cannabis Prevents Cancer - even when smoked!
"Components of cannabis smoke minimize some carcinogenic pathways whereas tobacco smoke enhances some. Both types of smoke contain carcinogens and particulate matter that promotes inflammatory immune responses that may enhance the carcinogenic effects of the smoke. However, cannabis typically down-regulates immunologically-generated free radical production by promoting a Th2 immune cytokine profile. Furthermore, THC inhibits the enzyme necessary to activate some of the carcinogens found in smoke. In contrast, tobacco smoke increases the likelihood of carcinogenesis by overcoming normal cellular checkpoint protective mechanisms through the activity of respiratory epithelial cell nicotine receptors. Cannabinoids receptors have not been reported in respiratory epithelial cells (in skin they prevent cancer), and hence the DNA damage checkpoint mechanism should remain intact after prolonged cannabis exposure. Furthermore, nicotine promotes tumor angiogenesis whereas cannabis inhibits it."
See:http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/2/1/21
What about the war on terror? It was created out of drug money. What about 9/11? It was created from drug money. Would you tell a mother that her son or daughter had to die in Iraq or Afghanistan as a byproduct of keeping drugs illegal? Would you be willing to die for drugs the way U.S. soldiers have to just to make sure 9/11 pt. 2 doesn't occure . . . do you want to die for drugs so Iran and N. Korea doesn't make the Bomb out of drug money. Would you be willing to die or get your legs blown off for drugs just so some Terrorist organization doesn't buy the bomb with drug money. Narco-Terrorism is real . . . If I'm wrong, then its foolish to think Mexican drug cartels use drug money to wage their bloody war -the largest war in North America since 1865. Drugs are the reason why America was able to be attacked and 9/11 was the 2nd time America was attacked by a foreign enemy -the last time we were attacked in America was in 1812 . . . Pearl Harbor was not a part of America when she was attacked.
Mike: The link you provided is from 1988. Please read the more current link that I have provided a few posts up. Much research has been concluded since 1988.
Please re-post the link. TIA Again, that report was Commissioned and Controlled by the DEA.
From DEA Adm. Judge Young's report:
16. Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care."
ssinp, anyone that wants marijuana is already getting it. Legalizing and regulating marijuana is not adding another harmful intoxicant to society, legalizing gives people the legal opportunity to make the SAFER CHOICE! Alcohol, tobacco, many Rx drugs, many over the counter drugs, even caffeine, aspirin and non-aspirin, can all be deadly and are well documented as being the direct cause of hundreds of thousands of deaths in the USA every year. http://www.saferchoice.org/content/view/24/53/
In 1988, after reviewing all scientific evidence brought forth in a lengthy lawsuit against the government’s prohibition of medical marijuana, the DEA’s own administrative law judge (Judge Francis Young) wrote: “MARIJUANA, IN ITS NATURAL FORM, IS ONE OF THE SAFEST THERAPEUTICALLY ACTIVE SUBSTANCES KNOWN. IN STRICT MEDICAL TERMS, MARIJUANA IS SAFER THAN MANY FOODS WE COMMONLY CONSUME.” http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/109464
No person of any age, in all of recorded history, has ever died from marijuana, marijuana is nontoxic. Many have died from marijuana prohibition and tens of millions have been caged or otherwise seriously harmed. The US arrests someone on marijuana charge every 38 seconds. In 2010, 52.1% of the 1,638,846 total arrests for prohibition violations were for marijuana, making a calculated total of 853,839. Would you rather have your kid locked up with killers and child molesters or would you prefer to do your own proper parenting? http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Marijuana#Total
The World Health Organization Documents Failure of U.S. Drug Policies—according to the world's leading substance abuse researchers, the US has the highest rates of marijuana and cocaine use. http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/90295/
Cannabis Reduces Infant Mortality: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/june272010/marijuana-infants-sc.php The "cannabis" infants have a mortality rate almost half of what the "No drugs" infants have!
Here's a documentary about marijuana curing cancer. There are 7 parts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjhT9282-Tw
If you still doubt that marijuana is good medicine then kindly check out Granny Storm Crow's Amazing MMJ Reference List:
http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/cmu/GrannysList-Jan2011.pdf
It’s more like a library than a list!
MARIJUANA CURES CANCER:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/healthprofessional/page4
http://www.nowpublic.com/thc_marijuana_helps_cure_cancer_says_harvard_study
http://patients4medicalmarijuana.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/marijuana-cures-cancer-us-government-has-known-since-1974/
http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/08/pbs-documentary-sheds-light-on-marijuanas-cancer-killing-properties/
Marijuana promotes brain cell growth by 40% and protects it from damage: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051016083817.htm
Marijuana promotes healthy lungs: http://dailycollegian.com/2012/02/01/marijuana-health-claims-go-up-in-smoke/
Marijuana when used by HIV patients Inhibits virus replication: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120320195252.htm
Mothers who use cannabis during pregnancy have healthier smarter kids: http://patients4medicalmarijuana.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/marijuana-cannabis-use-in-pregnancy-dr-melanie-dreher/
MARIJUANA HALVES MORTALITY RATE IN PEOPLE WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA AND RELATED DISORDERS:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22595870
Kevin: I read your links. You don't seem to fully understand what has happened in Portugal. There has NOT been a generalized decriminalization of drugs. It is much more complicated. Also, Portugal has aggresively approached the treatment and prevention of drug related illness. I am providing an informative link.
I am having difficulties posting links. If mine doesn't post: start with 3 w's, then:
emcdda(dot)europa(dot)eu/publications/country-overview/pt
Prohibition is a failure. Past month marijuana users in the U.S. have increased slightly from 5.8% in 1988 to 6.6% in 2009 (Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive), despite the war on drugs spending increasing from $9.7 billion in 1990 to $15 billion in 2010 (Source: ONDCP fact sheet 172873).
ssinp, here are some more reports, stats, and facts for you to continue to shamefully ignore:
Reports that show Prohibition has failed:
http://idpc.net/publications/failure-regime-selected-publications
The Global Commission on Drug Policy:
http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/Documents.aspx
Reports that show alternative approaches of decriminalization and regulation are working:
http://idpc.net/publications/alternative-strategies-selected-publications
What we can learn from The Portuguese Decriminalization of All Illicit Drugs:
http://bjc.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/6/999.abstract
General report on drug law reform in practice:
http://www.tni.org/report/legislative-innovation-drug-policy
Prohibition by Numbers:
http://www.drugpolicy.org/facts/drug-war-statistics
Final Report of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy - "Break the Silence and Open A Debate":
http://www.drogasedemocracia.org/English/Destaques.asp?IdRegistro=8
Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies:
http://www.cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/greenwald_whitepaper.pdf
Transform's outstanding (free) book titled, "After The War On Drugs : Blueprints for Regulation" - provides specific proposals on how various drugs can be regulated in the real world:
http://www.tdpf.org.uk/blueprint%20download.htm
You forgot to mention 9/11 and the wars in the Middle East. Illegal Drug money is the only way someone can attack America the way we were attacked on 9/11 . . . drug money is the only way America can be at war for longer than a few years fighting a poor nation when we are the ones who have all the money and allies. Everybody knows that 9/11 didn't happen until the year 2020 or later if the terrorists had to rely on non-drug black market money and or legal money . . . anyone who thinks oil finaces terrorism has boycotted all fuels and petrol plastics . . . oil for terrorism is bad for business . . . illegal money from drugs are covert and not overt like oil money, therfore its impossible for oil money to finance terrorism significantly -if oil money financed terrorism, then its because oil is cheaper now than it ever was . . . the CIA would have ousted all pro-terrorist oil companies the way the CIA outsted the Iranian gov't back in the 50's . . . not even Iran will use legal taxed money to finance their agendas and nuke programs . . . its way to easy to get one's money from illegal drugs because illegal drugs have fewer paper trails and are easier to deny when said nation keeps drugs illegal. Drug money is cheaper because it has less overhead . . . nations like Iran and Pakistan have citizens living in their nations and thus cannot afford to use their legal money on terrorist/nuclear agendas . . . oil money is controled by the rich and the rich need money to stay rich and therfore cannot afford to risk their business . . . its cheaper to use oil money to buy drugs and to use the drug money to finance terrorism, which would give one back their oil money with more money to spare, thus cleaning your oil off of any attacks and agendas. Drug money accounts for at least 80% of the wars in the Middle East and at least 100% of 9/11. If I'm wrong about any of this, then its because Afghanistan is a 1st world nation filled with large war factories like Germany and Japan during WWII -which would explaine why the U.S. was at war longer than 5-6yrs. Drug money even played a big part for the NVA and VC during the Vietnam war if we assume Vietnam was during the 60's and 70's and if we assume Vietnam is in Asia . . . with our bombings of their factories in Hanoi etc, we would have destroyed their war machine the way we did with Germany . . . if Russia and China gave them what they needed, we would have went to war with said nations with the help of NATO and the U.N. or at least boycotted China when it comes to industry.
The next time Lawrence speaks on this subject, I hope that he will talk about the illegal marijuana farms in the wilderness areas of our country. There hundreds of farms and the damage that is being done to the environment is staggering.
That's right. The illegal farms on public land exist due to prohibition. Legalize it and the illegal grows go away.
And think about some poor family stumbling onto one of those farms by mistake, they would be murdered if they were caught. These guys are probably the most dangerous criminals in the country.
That's why it needs to be legalized and regulated immediately. Our current path is a path to destruction, and we are at deaths door. It's time to wake up.
Saw the video at the top of the page, and it looks like The Last Word tonight, will once again, be "The economics of drugs."
Since my demographic evidently isn't valued, i'll be watching Anderson on CNN. Besides, I've heard it all, over and over, from my kids. Unfortunately, I'm usually the recipient of their cannibis withdrawal induced rage.
Your demographic is valued, frankly I can't stand Lawrence, but this isn't one of those issues with two sides to it. The problem is a few people (like yourself) refuse to evolve past the old wives tales and failed polices of 1933. That would be fine if you were the only one your silliness harmed, but when your "opinion" results in innocent people being thrown in cages, sick people going without medication, and billions of tax dollars being wasted on some ridiculous fictitious "war", then sorry pal. We have a problem.
ssinp, it's nice of you to mention the economy!
The U.S. comprises 5 percent of the world's population yet uses 60 percent of the world's drugs. The prohibition on these drugs has been waged for 70 years and has cost $1.5 trillion.
Prohibition has cruelly ruined the lives of millions of peaceful and productive citizens while bankrolling the most evil people on the planet. Prohibition has stagnated the normal economy while allowing criminal enterprises to control an untaxed thriving underground economy worth over 300,000 million dollars. By it's emphasis on the eradication of marijuana/hemp we have also been denied the most workable and logical solutions to a number of growing problems, be they medicinal, industrial, chemical, or commercial.
According to the CATO Institute, ending prohibition would save an annual $41 billion of expenditure while generating an estimated $46 billion in tax revenues.
http://www.cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/DrugProhibitionWP.pdf
Thanks to Prohibition, we now have a far higher percentage of our own citizens locked in cages than any other nation on the whole planet. Apart from the fact that these extra prisoners are not contributing economically to society, it also costs 50,000 dollars per annum to incarcerate them. Additionally, their families often go on government assistance, and it's again the average tax payer who has to pick up the bill. Their kids may be taken into care or raised by foster parents, again with tax payer money. Now add to all this the court costs, jail costs, and the salaries of all those people that have to deal with the enforcement of prohibition, like police officers, judges and public defenders, and you'll start to get a fair idea of why "Black Thursday" (October 24, 1929) happened during the period of another of our great experiments: Alcohol Prohibition (1919-1933).
* The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world.
* 743 adults incarcerated per 100,000 population at year-end 2009.
* 2,292,133 adults were incarcerated in federal and state prisons, and county jails at year-end 2009—pproximately 1% of US adults.
* Additionally, 4,933,667 adults at year-end 2009 were on probation or parole.
* In 2009, 7,225,800 adults were under correctional supervision (probation,parole, or incarcerated)—Approximately 3.1% of adults in the U.S. resident population.
Chart Of The Day: Federal Drug Prisoners
http://tinyurl.com/csfvb9n
You don't need to waste your time trying to convince me why you should be able to legally smoke marijuana. I've heard it all. Nothing new. From a medical perspective, overall, marijuana is not healthy! For the newest, non political, non biased research, go to medscape. You must first create a free account, which only takes a moment. Then type cannabis into their search box. It will give you ALL recent recearch, some favorable toward marijuana, most unfavorable. You will see that the bad outweighs the good; especially where schizophrenia is concerned.
From a health perspective, a review of the totality of the literature (current, quality research) indicates that marijuana is more harmful than beneficial. Hands down.
I am so unconcerned with the financial aspect.
I can promise you that if marijuana was more beneficial than harmful, healthwise, we would have already received guidelines for patients. Just as the research as dictated that we advise patients to exercise 30 minutes per day, eat less fat and simple carbohydrates; the weight of the evidence (quality research), still dictates that we advise our patients that marijuana is more harmful than healthy.
You don't have to try and sell me. Personally, I have a feeling that, regardless of current laws, your own personal consumption will remain unchanged.
So you don't give a damn about the soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan then -killed by drug money -killed because drugs are sold on the black market. Do you know how many Nam soldiers were killed by drug money? Every U.S. soldier killed in the War on Terror was from drug money . . . we went to war because drug money created 9/11. So it was your demographic group that sent me to war and toppled my economy when we spent $3 trillion fighting drug money and fixing 9/11. SSNIP, have you even heard of the DEA, CIA, War College and the U.N. . . . even they say drug money is the main reason why our enemy could attack us and keep us at war for so long. Drug legalization has nothing to do with drugs being legal for people to use -9/11 should have taught you that.
The few people who are historically ignorant enough and all around stupid enough to still support prohibition cannot be taken seriously. They are as asinine as the "geniuses" who swear the moon landing was a hoax.
Joe- You are obviously caught up in th fog of the drug war or that cloud you're surrounded by is from the weed you've been smoking. Get off the pipe kid, it's fogging your mind.
Why did you send me to war fighting drug money? Do you not remember living in the CIA military prison complex in Baghdad or ar you too lazy to do your part for the war and nation . . . that place had drug dealers from Russia, Italy and Latin America. You need to quit killing U.S. citizens violently with your political views on subjects that create war when followed and turned into laws and policy. There is no proof that drug legalizaton has anything to do with people's right to use drugs . . . would that be the first thought in your mind when holding your daughters hand while she is in a VA hospital bed with no legs, one arm, and no eyes and no vocal chords -hurt from a drug money bought Roadside bomb -mabye an old CIA Iran-Contra bomb from the 80's -modernly rigged with cellphones and wires bought with drug money -armed by a terrorist or insurgent who eats food bought with drug money -who wears cloths bought by drug money etc etc
I sure would hate for FOX News to catch wind of this. I can hear Sean now:
"Unbelievable. First they push Obamacare, with the rationale of making people healthier...and now they're trying to legalize drugs. Such hypocrites."
This whole debate is in opposition to the goals of the Affordable Care Act.
All of this 'war-on-drugs' nonsense is just a smokescreen for the Abrahamic religions' ongoing repression of gnosis, keeping the genie in the bottle with smoke and mirrors - Hollywood goes to the UN through Washington and the Pentagon; or, as the Archons themselves (might) say, "We shall win through deception." (Google it.) HAL!