Opium Economy

**rory_20_uk** · 03-08-2006, 19:42

Oh, great. More subsidised crops.

So anyone that states they might grow drugs we give them more cash to grow something else.

And how long does this go on for? Until they find a way of getting money for their small farms elsewhere? I think expecting that to happen is extremely unlikely.

**Viking** · 03-08-2006, 19:50

Originally Posted by rory_20_uk

And how long does this go on for?

It stops after the farmer has changed (only one fee paid), or for a year, or what eva`.
The actual country (Afghanistan in this case) must of course forbid the plant if it`s going to have any effect. It`s going to be easier to forbid the plant the fewer that grow it.

**yesdachi** · 03-08-2006, 19:56

I suggest we encourage them to grow something else by considering them enemy soldiers in the war on drugs and killing them unless they start growing other products.

**Kanamori** · 03-08-2006, 20:04

Opium growing won't go away, and neither will its use. The war on drugs was almost as fruitless as waging a war on a certain type of fighting has been. They went about it all wrong anyway. You have to stop the demand if you want to stop the production, not the other way around.

**BigTex** · 03-08-2006, 20:11

Opium growing won't go away, and neither will its use. The war on drugs was almost as fruitless as waging a war on a certain type of fighting has been. They went about it all wrong anyway. You have to stop the demand if you want to stop the production, not the other way around.

You have to do both. You must go after the supply so the drug is not so readily available. More of the drug means easier to get, easier to try, easier for more to get hooked on it. If you dont also provide programs that will help stop the demand, then just cuting the supply wont work either. Without both parts working together both will fail.

And I sure hope you arnt refering to terrorism as a "certain type of fighting". Blowing yourself/yourcar up is not a type of fighting, its called murder, or in this case Terrorism.

**Kanamori** · 03-08-2006, 20:24

In the first place, the war on drugs was too broad, and they targeted the most ridiculous one to spearhead. IMO, it's like going crazy and labelling caffiene consumption as evil. You are probably right, but the fact is the government should have put more into education, and not about the evils of pot or some outright lies, but in my experiences, kids in school are never taught or adequately shown how bad heroin and some of the other drugs can be; why they get so bad is the really important point. Heroin is bad, or can be, because of the same reason people do it. It makes you unconditionally feel like a god. It's very easy to lose yourself when you can do that for yourself any time. I may be building a total strawman, but I think that for one, if people understood this, a lot less people would ever go down that road, and if they did, they would have a lot more respect for how much it could go terribly wrong.

Originally Posted by Big Tex

And I sure hope you arnt refering to terrorism as a "certain type of fighting". Blowing yourself/yourcar up is not a type of fighting, its called murder, or in this case Terrorism.

Call it what you will, but it seems patently obvious to me that one cannot destroy a mode of action.

**Ironside** · 03-08-2006, 21:05

Originally Posted by BigTex

And I sure hope you arnt refering to terrorism as a "certain type of fighting". Blowing yourself/yourcar up is not a type of fighting, its called murder, or in this case Terrorism.

But as long as you don't blow yourself up, while blowing up others, it's called fighting.

You're slighty off on what defines terrorism.

**BigTex** · 03-08-2006, 21:33

But as long as you don't blow yourself up, while blowing up others, it's called fighting.

You're slighty off on what defines terrorism.

I believe you missinterrpreted me. What i mean is glorifying what those idiot "insurgents" (no more a rebelion then organized crime) do as some type of warfare is wrong, and completely incorrect. Terrorism is not warfare and is not fighting, it is what the name implies, a criminal act thats sole purpose is to put fear into others.

You are probably right, but the fact is the government should have put more into education, and not about the evils of pot or some outright lies, but in my experiences, kids in school are never taught or adequately shown how bad heroin and some of the other drugs can be; why they get so bad is the really important point. Heroin is bad, or can be, because of the same reason people do it. It makes you unconditionally feel like a god. It's very easy to lose yourself when you can do that for yourself any time. I may be building a total strawman, but I think that for one, if people understood this, a lot less people would ever go down that road, and if they did, they would have a lot more respect for how much it could go terribly wrong.

Completely and utterly agree. They spent to much money d**king around in columbia and not enough time/money teaching kids why heroin is bad. You need both but the heavy end of the stick should be the education of the masses. There was good reason why the C.I.A. would use LSD as a political sabotage weapon and its not because its fun.