End the Drug War?

Anyone here support ending the prohibition of more than just weed?

Im gonna go out on a limb and say we should legalize all drugs for people 19 and over.

I think the "War on Drugs" started during the Nixon era, if memory serves me correctly. Since then, I think it's fair to say the United States is losing this war...badly. Marijuana has no business being illegal, since it's impossible to overdose on, and well, it's a flower. I'd be a bit hesitant to legalize ALL other drugs. There would have to be limitations on where the harder drugs could be used. For example, you couldn't have someone on pcp or bath salts strolling down main street, that would be incredibly dangerous for the user and people around the user. If the harder drugs could be limited to use on private property, I don't see why not. Let natural selection run its course.

I find it extremely hypocritical that cannabis is still illegal, after everything our government did during the Manchurian Candidate experiments.

This thread probably belongs in the Politics & Religion Forum.
For the record, I am in favor of legalizing all drugs for sale to adults. Voluntary use of a drug would not excuse any crime committed under its influence; on the contrary, it would be an aggravating factor.

TXDFW90 said:

Anyone here support ending the prohibition of more than just weed?

Im gonna go out on a limb and say we should legalize all drugs for people 19 and over.

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I get it. If we legalise pot, we should legalise meth, then we should legalise heroine, then we should legalise coke, then we should legalise killing hookers, then we should legalise getting back at the bithches that wouldn't look twice at you from highschool, then we should legalise face slashing, then we should legalise white supremacy, then we should legali......

I can't believe I am saying this to a guy, but, take your fucking socks off and tell us what you REALLY feel!

Portugal did this in 2001. It has helped lead to less drug overdoses, HIV infections and even drug use. If it were to happen here it would surely help with the violence caused by the illegal drug trade.

http://mic.com/articles/110344/14-years-after-portugal-decriminalized-all-drugs-here-s-what-s-happening#.GbCxiTuNK

Legalize it, though it hasn't been much of a war lately and I'd say a lot of recreational drug use, at least as far as marijuana, has been decriminalized or laws are not really enforced as much.

We still have about 500,000 people in prisons in the US for drug offenses. Not sure I would count that as "not really enforced".

Also, Portugal merely decriminalized drugs, which is just a way of saying you pretty much cant go to prison for it anymore but can still be fined. However, it did have positive results.

I do think that as the generations rotate, more of the consensus will support freedom versus prison/fines regarding drug usage.

What is the reasoning behind not supporting legalization of marijuana?

TXDFW90 said:

We still have about 500,000 people in prisons in the US for drug offenses. Not sure I would count that as "not really enforced".

Also, Portugal merely decriminalized drugs, which is just a way of saying you pretty much cant go to prison for it anymore but can still be fined. However, it did have positive results.

I do think that as the generations rotate, more of the consensus will support freedom versus prison/fines regarding drug usage.

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Good points. Thanks.

Skatergirl - curiously, I read this article a few hours ago. I assume it's all true, but who can say....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-i...nned_b_9210248.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

To be fair, condemning the war on drugs or the US policy towards marijuana is kind of unfair without a little history. Do I personally think the "War on Drugs" policy needs to be revisited? Yes. But that has come from an evolution of US Policy and societal growth.

Drugs started to become illegal in the early 1900's. Marijuana specifically became illegal in 1937. Remember this is less than two decades after alcohol prohibition, so the conservative approach can be understood. I would speculate that hardly any research had been conducted on any drugs at this time. Not a really high priority.

Drugs use didn't really get going again in mainstream America until the 60's. So the Nixon administration decided to take another look at it and came up with scheduling the drugs. This is where some mistakes were made, specifically with marijuana being labeled as Schedule I. Research had been conducted on various drugs by this time, but I think that there was political pressure from major industries (paper & pulp, textiles, etc...) to not allow any cultivation of marijuana. Plus there was a heavy sin tax on alcohol which would be hard to implement if everyone was just growing a plant in their back yard. Home Distilling of spirits and home brewing of beer was still illegal.

In the 80's, Reagan really decided to ramp things up with the "War on Drugs" and Bush I followed in that path. They really strengthened the penalties for drug imports, distribution, sales and even use. This was probably because use of cocaine, heroin, and other drugs were skyrocketing. And they thought they were doing their part for the public health. Marijuana (since it was labeled schedule I) was swepted up with the other drugs and received harsher penalties.

Now, there is significant push back against the drug policies since more and more people are recognizing that there are flaws in the policies and the effort has not significantly reduced the use or availability of drugs. There needs to be a smarter approach.

States began to rebel with marijuana beginning in the late 80's and early 90's by going against federal law and making medical marijuana available. This is continuing with the expansion of medical marijuana, recreational marijuana and I even heard that some states will start cultivating hemp for textile and pulp purposes.

We are at a point where we do need to revisit the drug policies (and get rid of asset forfeiture laws) which are not effective and are rather expensive (policing, increased prison population, more funds going to criminal organizations who use those funds to finance other activities, etc...).

Now, should we put a full stop on the "War on Drugs"? No. Do we need to take a look at our national drug policy? My opinion is definitely.

I would like to see a more public health focused approach towards drugs (e.g. Portugal and some northern European countries) rather than just beating up the drug users.

I've heard say that since a few states have legalized recreational marijuana, the illicit trade in it has dropped by roughly 30 per cent across the board. Imagine what all 50 states legalizing marijuana would do to the illicit drug cartels.

If it's untainted pot then I say legalize it.

It's it's heroine, cocaine, or ecstasy then confiscate the drugs and any drug money the dealers have and give them a fine.

Then give the drug money to a fund for a community social program (or hell, give it to the homeless, I'm not picky).

Weed will federally be legal here in Canada once we can get past the international UN treaties! Can't wait might take a little while yet though

It'll never happen.

It takes politicians to do it.

It opens up what I call the "Politician Dilemma": Something that should be done for the greater good, but either your political enemies or powerful "good ole' boy forces,"
or big mouthed lobbyists shut it down EVERY time. So it becomes basically just about scientifically impossible.

For example: Comprehensive prison reform. (Which ties into the drug war.)

A politician think, "Hmm, we should lessen our massive prison population by reforming the prison system."

Then, his enemies declare he's SOFT ON CRIME!!! He wants to let CRIMINALS and DRUG DEALERS and MURDERERS and PEDOPHILES out on the street, to attack YOUR families!! YOUR!!!!
families!!!!!! OH THE HUMANITY!!!! Then they make commercials where the criminals break into some innocent families home and rape/murder everyone to death.
Then, the private prisons and anyone making gobs of money off of inmates, and that is a vast, intricate system, join in the attack, or lobby the politician to death until he changes his mind.
Politicians wanting prison reforms loses in a landslide if he stays the course, and every other politician gets the hint real fast.

It's why prisons will either never reform, or reform so slowly, you'll barely notice.

It's why drugs will never be legalized, or be such a long, slow, process, you'll never see it in your lifetime, and the changes can be quickly reversed to the current status quo.

It's why Social Security will NEVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR be reformed, ever, ever ever. Social Security will go away when zombies are walking around eating everybody, or
right after the asteroids wipes out all life on Earth.

It's why we'll never have a "Flat tax" or "Fair Tax."

These are issues that people will talk about, write books about, discuss and argue online and hashtag to death and make the MOST EXCELLENT points that can be totally right.......anndddddd it'll never happen.

Like abolishing the IRS and making Congress take minimum wage salaries. Literally never going to happen.

MAYBE (and boy do I mean MAYBE!) some Supreme Court decision may prove me wrong, but I doubt it.

Yes, it'd save the country millions in tax dollars, people have a right to injest what they please as long as they don't bother anyone else, yada yada. Those are all correct points.
And the politicians aren't listening and don't care.

The "Ole' Biddy Vote" is far too powerful.

I'm Pro-Legalization of Weed & Other Drugs. The act of putting any substance into your own body should be nobodys business but your own. The "War on Drugs" has lead to many people having criminal records for minor drug offenses. Honestly, if consenting adults decide to partake in Drugs Exchanges & Use, I don't care. As long as everyone is aware what they're getting into, I say have at it.

And I think it should be 18 Nationwide. People are driving before they're 18. But when you turn 18, you can Vote, Live on your own, Get Married, Purchase Cigarettes in many places, Join the Military, and get sent to actual Prison. The only thing you really can't do is drink Alcohol.{Which I also think should be allowed at 18}

If someone gets violent as a response to Drugs in their system, they should be held accountable. That doesn't seem different at all to how we already deal with people do that as a response to Alcohol in their system.

I mentioned this in another Drug-Related Thread a while back, for a good period of time, I would smoke weed and then go to work. I found myself happier, I found myself more relaxed, and able to enjoy the day it felt like 10xs more.

I would be okay with the legalization of marijuana, though I have not used it since college myself. I feel like there is a lot to be gained from it purely from a medical standpoint, I see very few downsides to just making it legal.

I'm reminded of the series "The Wire" when one of the police majors establishes "free zones" to move all the drug dealers into and off every other street. It appeared to be working in the series at least. Yet the police major's buddies practically crucified him for it.

Yeah I agree BBGuy.

In fact, I dont understand why more people shouldn't agree with the idea that all drugs should be legalized, when they do support marijuana legalization.

If people agree with the principle that you own your body and can do what you want with it, then I or anyone else, shouldn't be able to tell you or others what drugs they can do, what food they can eat, etc.

I find that those who have actually used the drugs, usually realize that the drugs ought to be legalized.

With each of the taboo drugs I've tried- (LSD, Shrooms, Ecstasy, Cocaine,) I've found that everything I was told about them by anti-drug campaigns or those who have never tried them was false.

I think part of it is fear of the unknown.

Weed is becoming more legally accepted only because so many people are familiar with it and comfortable with the idea.

The others illegal rec drugs, like I listed above, would be thought of with the same sentiment, if only more people knew what they're like. They're far safer than people are led to believe and nothing to be afraid of.


Anyway, government has always been behind the times- a lagging indicator of social change.

I dunno if drugs are nothing to be afraid of, but to have them legalized and regulated and addicts be treated as such instead of criminals might be for the better imo

chicago said:

I dunno if drugs are nothing to be afraid of, but to have them legalized and regulated and addicts be treated as such instead of criminals might be for the better imo

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Amen to that!

As a portuguese I can say that the worst that the police will do (in my experience) if they see you smoking marijuana, is just to basically tell you to put it away while in front of them. And to be fair the drug use seems to be getting considerably lower (or maybe i'm just getting older -_-), cause i've been seein a lot less drug usage in the streets than i had seen a few years ago

My boyfriend who is now my ex, have discussed that marijuana should be legal throughout the country. He said that it would probably save this country a ton of money & when I thought about it, I agreed with him. Now, I don't think that other drugs should be legalized like cocaine, heroin, & other crap like that be legalized. I also think that medical marijuana should be legal in our country as well especially when I listened to New Jersey 101.5 the other day when they were discussing people using marijuana to help them with their health issues.

He said that it would probably save this country a ton of money & when I thought about it, I agreed with him. Now, I don't think that other drugs should be legalized like cocaine, heroin, & other crap like that be legalized.

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As long as the drugs are still confiscated and any drug money found on the scene seized and spent for the social welfare of the community (aka spent on food banks, shelters, upkeep of roads, bridges, and local infrastructure) then I don't see an issue with lowering possession of substances like that to a misdemeanor.