War on Drugs Cant Be Won, According to Global Leaders

Damn, I thought you liked GMScud. You're a hard, hard man. But then, you're probably stoned and texting as you drive home right now.

Why you gotta be putting my private life out there. I'm on the way to pick up my gov't check at the same time. It's all good.


[/sarcasm]

So back on topic, is the war on drugs worth it or not? I think it's obviously been proven to be a giant failure, so what's the next step?

So back on topic, is the war on drugs worth it or not? I think it's obviously been proven to be a giant failure, so what's the next step?Your original statements are on point. Legalize weed (age 21), tax the $hit out of it. Illegal disti should get the same punishment as illegal cig disti. Possesion of hard drugs (coke, heroin, meth, etc.) mandatory treatment then escalate to criminal penalities. Disti of hard drugs...nail 'em just like now.

Declare a state of emergency along the border with Mexico and deploy troops, not National Guard, active duty troops. First destroy (lock-up or kill) the gangs and drug cartels in U.S., next use diplomacy (major financial sanctions) to get the Mexican gov't to clean up its act and fight the battle on their side of the border. With the firepower of the U.S. military behind them, they'll be more likely to stand up to the drug cartels.

Tax revenue will help our financial situation, less folks in jail decreases gov't spending and puts more people into the workforce/economy, lives will be saved on both sides of the border. The folks who want to smoke weed will still do it, those that don't won't. I don't believe there will be any statistically verifiable difference in overall U.S. health.

About as stupid as the "War on Terrorism" and about as affective too.Um....OK. You're right, stopping at least 30 terrorist plots since 9/11 and saving thousands of lives is stupid and ineffective:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/thf_media/2010/pdf/b2405_figure1_2.pdf

- I'd say the U.S. Intel community and NSWDG were pretty damn effective in killing Bin Laden.

- Folks in Afghanistan who were living under Taliban rule don't think the War on Terrorism is stupid.

- I also would imagine the folks in Iraq that had been through Saddam's rape and torture rooms don't think the War of Terrorism is stupid. Pretty sure the Kurds would agree too.

- The War on Terrorism won't be over in our lifetimes. As long as there are Muslim extremists who believe violence is the way to advance their religion and is the way to paradise, and there are Muslim leaders willing to manipulate/exploit them to advance their agendas, we will be a target and it won't be over.

So back on topic, is the war on drugs worth it or not? I think it's obviously been proven to be a giant failure, so what's the next step?

Not worth it. I mean prohibition didn't work and I see this war on drugs headed in the right direction.

So back on topic, is the war on drugs worth it or not? I think it's obviously been proven to be a giant failure, so what's the next step?

Just out of curiosity do you mean virtually every part of the "war?" Or just the part that puts users in jail?

It seems to me that switching from criminalizing to regulating drugs will be a major undertaking in terms of the structural reboot. Laws will need to be changed, policies develeped and regulations written. Then of course their are the funding issues - certain vested interests won't want to "close down" and hand over their jobs to a bunch of bureaucratic regulators.

Part of the problem in "decriminalizing drugs" is that it is one of these things where the devil really is in the details. All of the steps to do so require developing consensus and detailed decision making that would be difficult to attain in the best of times. In the current political atmosphere of combat politics, I am thinking it is downright impossible ("My opponent, JoeShmoe (no relation to JoeRedskin) wants to legalize drugs - your neighbor's house could be a crack house!!!" etc., etc.). It is politically easier to simply maintain the status quo, even if it has some unsatisfactory results.

For all these reasons and for some that have been said before, we are simply never going to "decriminilize drugs". Law enforcement will always be present at some level. In Portugal, usage, possession and aquisition are decriminalized but, apparently, not sale or production. Portugal 2001 decriminalization of drug use - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal_2001_decriminalization_of_drug_use)
In the Netherlands, it is still a misdeamenor to possess cannabis or produce it for personal use.

I agree the current enforcement system has serious flaws. I just don't know that there is any easy answer to fix it. I think the start may be to allow possesion, in home use (and I mean "in home" - my porch is literally 2 feet away from my neighbors, I don't want him smoking pot while my kids are eating dinner) and production for personal use of cannabis below a certain THC level. I thinks this will unclog some courts and stop creating a class of youths with criminal records. It won't, however, stop the crack heads, cocaine cartels or the Afghani opium trade.

Again, I have no problem with the general concept of not clogging the courts with possession of pot crimes. I think I may even agree to it as far as possession of crack - but not sure on that one. I just don't think "decriminalize it" is the panacea some seem to think it is.

Nobody said a fix is easy, but the current way is seriously flawed, costly, and ineffective. Something needs to change. Obviously a gradual change is necessary. Start with legalizing weed and go from there. I think that's the route we're slowing heading anyway.

About as stupid as the "War on Terrorism" and about as affective too.

Um....OK. You're right, stopping at least 30 terrorist plots since 9/11 and saving thousands of lives is stupid and ineffective:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/thf_media/2010/pdf/b2405_figure1_2.pdf

- I'd say the U.S. Intel community and NSWDG were pretty damn effective in killing Bin Laden.

- Folks in Afghanistan who were living under Taliban rule don't think the War on Terrorism is stupid.

- I also would imagine the folks in Iraq that had been through Saddam's rape and torture rooms don't think the War of Terrorism is stupid. Pretty sure the Kurds would agree too.

- The War on Terrorism won't be over in our lifetimes. As long as there are Muslim extremists who believe violence is the way to advance their religion and is the way to paradise, and there are Muslim leaders willing to manipulate/exploit them to advance their agendas, we will be a target and it won't be over.

Thank you. The comparison between: (1) the attempt to stop people from voluntarily using mind altering drugs and (2) the attempt to stop people from killing innocent civilians is flawed on so many levels.