<Starlon> • Drug War

Drug War

What do I think? I think it's an absolute failure. Innocent people, along with children, have been dying. Government has been jailing people who are not criminals, and they allow corruption to exist in politics, law enforcement, border control, your neighborhood, the schools, and any place imaginable. I think a good strategy against crime is to eliminate the potential for corruption. A start is to legalize marijuana. Then see what hard drug is #1 illegal drug and work on that one intelligently. Brute force tactics are irresponsible. It may be, like in The Netherlands, that hard drug usage goes down. You might say the deaths are just casualties of war. You should never wage war on society, culture, or harmless spirituality. If you wage war on the abusers, you also wage war on everyone else. It's inhumane. Bigotry fuels the fight. Without it the prohibitionists have little to say.

The notion that I'm a "dope" for supporting this effort only proves their bigotry.

"Now, all you need, and here is my formula, for a new prohibition every time is what? We need an intractable, difficult, social, economic, or medical problem. But that is not enough. There has to be another thing. It has to divide by class --- by social or economic class, between US and THEM." - The History of the Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the United States

"The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the Prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this." - Albert Einstein

This crime we are fighting is needless and harmful, and the overall benefits are small in comparison to the energy and cost put into the war against drug abuse. The benefits are a mouse; the war is an elephant. It would take a much more powerful computational algorithm to compute the side effects of the war than it would to compute the benefits. In fact, an equivalent algorithm would regard the mass of the mouse as too miniscule to be of any use, unless it was designed to specifically deal with the mouse, adding to the complexity of the algorithm. Nobody in their right mind would write such a program, unless that person was forced by those in charge -- more brute force and inhumane tactics for our children to witness.

Read what others are saying.

Read about the Drug War's innocent victims. While reading, keep in mind that marijuana hasn't killed anyone, only the war has.

"I support MPP because our existing marijuana laws - based on fear, ignorance, and vested interests - are unenlightened, overreactive, and often inhumane to the point of tyrannical cruelty."
- best-selling author Tom Robbins

The risks of the drug war outweigh the benefits by magnitudes. Prohibitionists have exaggerated their theories to the point of absurdity. What they say is filled with far more bigotry than evidence that "illegal" drugs pose a great risk to humanity. The Drug War is a great risk to humanity.

Bruteforce tactics are not efficient, and rarely work reasonably

"The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem. It is generally employed only by small children and large nations." - David Friedman

The Drug War is based on a poorly planned design. It allows corruption to exist. It allows Americans to be exploited. It is fueled by bigotry. It grows larger and larger, with no discernible end. The algorithm is hopeless. Allowing it to not only continue, but to manifest itself as the greatest crime upon humanity, is just inhumane.

The cartels recruit aggressively. And we keep housing them in prisons when these recruits are caught. The cartel doesn't care about them anymore. They just replace the loss, and continue pulling in massive profits. The money that is not being horded by the American rich is being vacuumed in by the cartels. How much more of this corruption and extortion are we willing to take? The "dope heads" aren't quitting, especially in states where medical marijuana is legal. However, as seen with Phelps, bigotry is rampant.

So let's see, government is allowing 3 atrocities to occur.

1) Corruption
2) Extortion
3) Bigotry

Here on out known as The Big 3.

Tell me again how we're ignoring American harm just to criminalize some dope's enjoyment of a rather harmless herb. I.m sorry, but the relaxing inebriation enjoyed by millions is not America's biggest worry.

The more adults who realize marijuana is benign in comparison to alcohol, the more adults who don't enjoy alcohol pick up marijuana instead. What exactly is wrong with this? Why does this have to manifest itself as Prohibition II? Mexico is in shambles over this herb. All because someone sees a social difference and overreacts, exaggerates, and outlaws that difference. This war is influenced by bigotry -- the US and THEM syndrome. Do it, take a long look at the individual reactions to Phelps' story. "I'm ashamed" will come up often. What are you ashamed about? Did Phelps suddenly become an alien when that picture crossed their vision? Did he cross that social boundary -- the one from US to THEM? Indeed that is what has happened. Phelps' story is one about bigotry and how it stagnates our nation and lowers government's prestige.

Contrary to popular belief, there is a difference between responsible and irresponsible drug usage. I have to be responsible and take my pharmaceuticals when it's time to do so. Smoking a joint at night, or over the weekend, is responsible use. Waking and baking and smoking all day is irresponsible use. Bigotry sees know distinction. Everybody's either black or white. You're either an abuser or you're white. That irresponsible user's minor crime, which is less harmful to the user than sky diving or motorbike sports, certainly doesn't warrant all out war (The big 3) on the responsible users, whether they're using marijuana medically or recreationally.

Put an end to the Big 3 and support the legalization of marijuana, and an open, intelligent discussion about drug policies.

I don't see how anyone could condone the erosion of American rights. The drug war is just that.