Do you support the drug war?

[mdmc]

Poll question: Do you support the drug war?

[me b zola]

1. I was the first vote!

I don't support the drug war at all.

[Unvanguard]

2. Absolutely not. Does anyone here? n/t

[Greyhound]

3. Prohibition has never and will never work.

The country's too big and the demand's too high.

[ixion]

4. I do not support the so-called 'war' on (some) drugs, nor any such 'war'

on an abstraction.

[MagickMuffin]

5. Of course I DO NOT support the WOD's

However, we are ALL forced to support it through our taxes.

Just think where all our tax dollars could go if we were allowed to choose where we wanted them to go. I already have a list of where I would want my tax dollars to go.

[Ian David]

6. You didn't specify on which side. n/t

[Kennah]

7. The Drug War must end

I face particular fierce offensives in the Prescription Drug Campaign of the Drug War. DHS isn't shooting people at the border for bringing in prescription drugs obtained in Canada, yet, so I'm told.

[BootinUp]

8. too unspecific

I support efforts to prevent certain drugs from being imported and sold on the streets, most parents do btw.

[Warren DeMontague]

22. Yes, we must think of the children, that'll justify it...

I'm a parent, and I'm of the opinion that we'd do much better funding treatment on demand (including secular and other scientific alternatives to people who don't want to play the 12 step game) than we do by endlessly pursuing prohibition.

And as far as 'certain drugs'- the majority of drug war expenditures go towards fighting pot smoking. If we legalize, regulate, and tax that, we would be most of the way towards a saner approach to the whole ballgame.

[BootinUp]

24. I'm all for a more saner approach.

And I think California can help push the country in that direction.

[Warren DeMontague]

26. I just don't think prohibition is the answer. I have trouble envisioning meth sold at the 7-11

but I've seen lots of problems with legal drugs, i.e. alcohol and nicotine.

All the money that we plow into incarceration and fancy helicopters with infrared vision, could pay for a lot of help for addicted people- addicted to all sorts of things.

[Warren Stupidity]

30. So you would continue the insane war on drugs you don't like

while admitting it is insane for those you do?

And that is, I suppose, saner.

[BootinUp]

31. You seem to be fishing for something

other than a reasonable dialog on the issue. Let me know if you catch something.

[county worker]

9. I've always known that it was a money maker for a good deal of people.

I really hate the "DARE" program police cars that drive around here. The go to schools and tell kids to not do drugs and that is supposed to work but it doesn't. It just gives some cops something nice to do.

[11 Bravo]

10. Which drug? As far as I can tell, smack hasn't done anyone a whole lot of good.

[FiveGoodMen]

13. Throwing people in jail for it doesn't do a whole lot of good, either.

[BootinUp]

15. I think for this debate to be interesting, people need to spell out

exactly what they want to be legal or illegal. For example, even the Netherlands has controlled substance laws and long prison terms for certain activities with certain drugs.

[Puregonzo1188]

17. Ok, how about this--the total decriminalization of all drugs.

Treating addiction as a public health problem, not a law enforcement one.

[BootinUp]

19. Why can't we treat it as a public health problem

and still have laws against importing/exporting/sales of the drugs that are clearly harmful? If your main concern is prosecution of casual drug users, I would be inclined to agree with you.

[JonLP24]

21. I think decriminalization

doesn't mean importing/... would be legal. However keeping everything illegal drives the business underground where people get ripped off and they have can't the police, file lawsuits, etc. They are out of luck unless... That is where the violent crimes associated it with come in place. Dealers robbing dealers, users robbing dealers, and dealers ripping off users. That never goes away as long as things remain completely illegal. So as I can you see I'm fringe on this topic.

[BootinUp]

25. I don't think you sound fringe. nt

[mdmc]

16. Well, if you think that addiction = crime, then you are a drug warrior

if you think that addiction is a treatable illness, you do not support the drug war..

Hope it help bra..

[TexasObserver]

11. The Drug War = Law enforcement acts as Pinkertons for Big Pharm, Alcohol, Tobacco.

Also, for the right wing interests, including the GOP, who want the Drug War to penalize citizens who don't vote with them.

The Drug War consumes a majority of our law enforcement, our criminal justice system, and our prisons.

[RKP5637]

12. Yeah, I support it, it's worked so well, cleaned up crime so much and made

America such a better place and got the dirty hippies off the streets.
:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[avaistheone1]

14. The drug war is a boondoggle enriching the prisions and the police state.

Time to shut the bogus drug war down.

[hunter]

23. Enriching the drug gangs too...

Drugs are cheap -- easy to grow or make. The "war" on drugs increases both the profits and the intensity of violence.

[Swamp Rat]

18. Fuck Eric Holder. eom

[Warren DeMontague]

20. Hell No. Legalize and tax marijuana, stop locking people up for non-violent drug offenses

treat addiction as a public health issue, not a LE one.

[walldude]

27. LMAO.. one fucking loser....

There's one in every crowd :rofl:

[spin]

28. We need to get the hell out of Iraq, Afghanistan and the War on Drugs ...

In the case of the War on Drugs, I'm beginning to fear that we may be too late.

Prohibition banned alcohol and enabled the formation and growth of organized crime in our nation. When prohibition ended, the strongest gangs adapted.

The following are statistics detailing how much worse crime got:

* Police funding: INCREASED $11.4 Million
* Arrests for Prohibition Las Violations: INCREASED 102+%
* Arrests for Drunkenness and Disorderly Conduct: INCREASED 41%
* Arrests of Drunken Drivers: INCREASED 81%
* Thefts and Burglaries: INCREASED 9%
* Homicides, Assault, and Battery: INCREASED 13%
* Number of Federal Convicts: INCREASED 561%
* Federal Prison Population: INCREASED 366%
* Total Federal Expenditures on Penal Institutions: INCREASED 1,000%


"Not only did the number of serious crimes increase, but crime became organized. Criminal groups organize around the steady source of income provided by laws against victimless crimes such as consuming alcohol or drugs, gambling and prostitution. In the process of providing goods and services those criminal organizations resort to real crimes in defense of sales territories, brand names, and labor contracts. That is true of extensive crime syndicates (the Mafia) as well as street gangs, a criminal element that first surfaced during prohibition."

"The contributing factor to the sudden increase of felonies was the organization of crime, especially in large cities. Because liquor was no longer legally available, the public turned to gangsters who readily took on the bootlegging industry and supplied them with liquor. On account of the industry being so profitable, more gangsters became involved in the money-making business. Crime became so organized because "criminal groups organize around the steady source of income provided by laws against victimless crimes such as consuming alcohol. As a result of the money involved in the bootlegging industry, there was much rival between gangs. The profit motive caused over four hundred gang related murders a year in Chicago alone."

Bootleg alcohol is what fueled the work of Organized crime. Most of the men involved in the Mafia or gangs were young immigrants. The business of bootleg alcohol was highly profitable for everyone involved which often fueled the Mafia or gang wars. By the late 1920's more than 1 million gallons of bootleg liquor had been illegally brought into the United States. Most of the alcohol came in either through Canada or from ships that were located just beyond U.S. waters. See Coast Guard Pictures during the Prohibition Era. However, there was alcohol being produced legally in the United States that was also being bootlegged. Most of the alcohol being produced for use in manufacture often ended up being bootlegged.

***snip***

Many people wonder why prohibition failed. One of the primary reasons was that there just was not enough money, or police power to stop illegal places like speakeasies from popping up. I think there is another reason. Corruption has a lot to do with the reason why prohibition ended up failing. The following is a story out of Detroit, probably one of the best places to be a bootlegger or to find an illegal drink. "When the state police raided the Deutsches Haus at Mack and Maxwell, they arrested Detroit Mayor John Smith, Michigan Congressman Robert Clancy and Sheriff Edward Stein. From St. Clair Shores' Blossom Heath on Jefferson to Little Harry's downtown, to the Green Lantern Club in Ecorse, Detroit's most upstanding citizens fed the coffers of the gangs that were reaping huge fortunes from their appetite for alcohol." Even elected officials fell into the trap of speakeasies!


http://www.albany.edu/~wm731882/future1_final.html

[mdmc]

34. 1

[jgraz]

29. Yes, but I fight for the other side.

:smoke:

[pipi_k]

32. How can someone support a "war" that makes about as much sense...

as a "war" on Christmas?

or ugly shoes...

or Chicken Mc Nuggets...

or bad weather...


etc....

[Rex]

33. The 'war on drugs' is the biggest failure in American history.

And the authorities know it and have known for decades. Sad that they let a small group of radicals influence them far beyond what is acceptable.