War on Drugs: Great Failure or Greatest Failure?

[rotorgun]

I say we should legalize drugs. Then the industry could be heavily regulated, and taxed. There should be severe penalties for their sale to the under aged, or for their use operating a vehicle or machinery, or for using them on the job. The main opponents to such a proposal would likely be the law enforcement industry, which would stand to lose millions, and the drug manufacturers, because the price would drop like a millstone. The alcohol industry is regulated so, and it works fairly well. If enforced properly, the drug use should decline to reasonable levels in time.

[Rhyfelwyr]

A few pop stars (I don't know about music genres, so don't flame me) do not give a very useful insight into how drug use affects the average person. They might get away with it in their very unique line of work, but I would guess you can't really hold down a typical job while stoned out your face.

That is not to say that the War of Drugs was the right approach, but I think it is going to far to say that drugs aren't really that bad. The fact is they cause a devastating cycle of deprivation in the poorest communities, ruin lives, and cost the taxpayer a fair bit as well.

[Kadagar_AV]

A few pop stars (I don't know about music genres, so don't flame me) do not give a very useful insight into how drug use affects the average person. They might get away with it in their very unique line of work, but I would guess you can't really hold down a typical job while stoned out your face.

That is not to say that the War of Drugs was the right approach, but I think it is going to far to say that drugs aren't really that bad. The fact is they cause a devastating cycle of deprivation in the poorest communities, ruin lives, and cost the taxpayer a fair bit as well.

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Sometimes I seriosly wonder if we are even from the same planet, mate.

Just from the people I personaly KNOW in this very small TOWN, I could without an effort mention, say, 50 people who do drugs AND do their jobs perfectly. Some I would claim do their job better with it.

I wont flame you cause of the pop-star comment as you asked not to (guess you even understood you are wrong on your own).

There is SO many people who have done great things, AND drugs.
There is SO many people who have done great things, while ON drugs.
There is so many people, who have done great things, BECAUSE of drugs.

Don't get me wrong though... "drugs" are a bit too large a word. The difference between, say, marijuana and heroine is breath taking, to say the least.

But no matter if we talk about even marijuana as a "drug", there are risks. Just like smoking, alcohol, skiing, hockey, bungey jumping, mountain climbing, walking out of bed... Are we here to be perfectly safe, or to, you know, live?

[Viking]

There is SO many people who have done great things, while ON drugs.
There is so many people, who have done great things, BECAUSE of drugs.

Doubt that.

[Strike For The South]

Doubt that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dock_Ellis

DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO THROW A NO HITTER?

As an aside I will readily admit my using drugs is a direct correlation with my stern German mother and crippiling social akwardness.

The only perscription is wheat hops and barley

[Hosakawa Tito]

I stopped voting when I stopped taking drugs. I believe both of those acts are closely related to delusional behavior.

- George Carlin

[Viking]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dock_Ellis

DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO THROW A NO HITTER?

one dude and counting, keep up the pace.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Don't get me wrong though... "drugs" are a bit too large a word. The difference between, say, marijuana and heroine is breath taking, to say the least.

I think the fact that I didn't make such a distinction is why you think there is such a distance between us on the issue (why do I sound so formal these days... writing too many essays gah).

Anyway, I'm sure people can get through life on pot (well I think so, don't have any personal experience). Or it can even help people in some lines of work. I don't even think there's much wrong with people doing harder drugs if they want to go out on a Friday night or whatever.

But besides the above situations, there's a whole different world to drugs, where addiction completely ruins lives, forces people into crime, and all other sorts of problems. I don't know about Sweden, but if you travelled round some of the areas round here you would quickly see how serious a problem drug abuse is.

[Vuk]

You are right Lemur, it is a failure. What we have to do now is start using capital punishment for drug possession, manufacturing, and trafficking. That would have results! In fact, it would rid the world of a lot of scum, so we would be doing a double good. Think of all those dangerous drug lords who would never do anyone any harm again?

[Crazed Rabbit]

You are right Lemur, it is a failure. What we have to do now is start using capital punishment for drug possession, manufacturing, and trafficking. That would have results! In fact, it would rid the world of a lot of scum, so we would be doing a double good. Think of all those dangerous drug lords who would never do anyone any harm again?

So you want to kill Michael Phelps?

CR

[Vuk]

So you want to kill Michael Phelps?

CR

lol, do you think that Phelps would take drugs if he knew that being caught would mean the death penalty? I garuntee you that 99.999% of everyone in America who takes drugs would stop, and only the most dangerous criminals would continue.

[aimlesswanderer]

From what I remember about the stats, the "tough" approach has basically ignored the root of the problem - the demand. While there is demand, there will be supply. AFAIK the amount of money spent on interdiction and such dwarfs the amount spent on rehabilitation and prevention, even in Australia. Rehab isn't "tough" and doesn't make for dramatic press conferences, but it has, from memory, been proven to be much more effective.

I think that the drug problem should be treated as a health issue rather than a law and order issue. The priority should be helping people minimise its harmful effects, not throw them into jail.

I remember hearing something about how Portugal decriminalised drugs, and that seems to have worked well. The usual suspects thought Lisbon would become the drug capital of Europe and that everyone would be doing drugs, but that hasn't happened.