Commanders Post at The Warpath - View Single Post - War on Drugs Cant Be Won, According to Global Leaders

JoeRedskin · 06-03-2011, 10:40 AM

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
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.

06-03-2011, 10:40 AM	#28
JoeRedskin Contains football related knowledge Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Second Star On The Right Age: 62 Posts: 10,401	Re: War on Drugs Cant Be Won, According to Global Leaders 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 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. __________________ Strap it up, hold onto the ball, and let’s go.