The concerns that animate critics of drug prohibition and critics of gun control are fundamentally similar: Both complain that the government is overstepping its proper bounds by treating people as criminals for no good reason. In doing so, they say, the government violates fundamental rights based on arbitrary legal distinctions. Progressives ask why people should go to jail simply because they consume psychoactive substances that politicians do not like. Conservatives ask the same question about people who own firearms that politicians do not like or who possess guns without meeting burdensome regulatory requirements. Some conservatives have even begun to question the justice and constitutionality of punishing gun owners who belong to broadly defined categories of “prohibited persons.”
The striking historical and contemporary parallels between drug control and gun control show that both sets of skeptics are right. Recognizing that commonality can help us begin to discuss alternatives and ultimately replace unjust and ineffective strategies with policies and programs that might actually work. That means focusing on harms rather than on drugs and guns themselves, understanding how current policies magnify magnify those harms, and pursuing strategies that are more carefully tailored to the problems that politicians say they are trying to address.
— Jacob Sullum in Beyond Control, Drug Prohibition, Gun Regulation and the Search for Sensible Alternatives
The ‘war’ on drugs is the largest, by far, failure in American history. At this point we have spent trillions of dollars for exactly no gain.
Something has to change.
The “War on Poverty” was at least as bad a failure.
Le,g@.liz@ti0n is slavery. It is government control in a different form. It is supported by people who are s0,ci@,l!st/pr0gress!ve in their p0litic@l 0rient@ti0n.
And those same folks don’t live anywhere near, were the drug addicts are urinating and defecating in public.
And while they claim they hate the police. They will be the first ones to call the police on a property owner, who shoots and kills a drug addict. Who breaks into their private property to steal in order to pay for their drug use.
“Legalized drugs and all the crime will go away”
That is a true statement only if you stop arresting people for stealing and murdering.
And don’t report crimes accurately. All of which is happening in the District of Columbia. And other cities were public drug use was made legal.
“If you le.g@,lize drugs all the crime will go away and there will be no need for black drug dealers to have guns.”
I will never forget hearing all the white liberals say that when I was a kid. And at the same time when the black panthers had their guns confiscated because they were peacefully protesting.
And the Je.wis.h defense league was open carrying their loaded, Thompson submachine guns during their peaceful protests.
Also the white owned pot stores are allowed to stay open. But the street dealers are arrested.
There sure is racism when it comes to guns and drugs.
The biggest polluters of the land are the marijuana farms. using chemicals that corn farmers aren’t allowed to use.
Name one victory in the ‘war’ on drugs. I have never said to not stop thieves and murderers.
It remains true. The ‘war’ on drugs is an absolute failure. And for us to continue this failure is nothing short of insanity.
Prop 47 in california was an act of great evil. It was racist at it’s core intent. And it’s passage was celebrated by the le.g@l.iz@t.i0n crowd.
I read the law as I always read the laws, before voting on them. As a former california resident.
Unfortunately most voters in the state of california aren’t interested in reading, about the proposals before they vote for them.
As I’ve said before?, go ahead and legalize it. But also make it so that I, as a property owner, can start killing criminals who try to steal from me or vandalize my private property.
Back the way it used to be in this country. Well over one hundred years ago. When drugs were legal Back then.
Cattle rustlers and horse thieves were given an instant death sentence. And nobody ever complained about it.
They are property crimes.
“Name one victory in the ‘war’ on drugs.”
1. Drug dealers killing each other over turf.
2. Liberals overdosing more.
3. Dealers killing clients for not paying for their drugs by trying to steal them.
Each was a result of increased use, coupled with legalization of pot, as a result of push back against the war on drugs to move towards a more liberal mindset on drug use.
Just because there have been failures in the past doesn’t mean we can’t have victories in the future. It’s clear that a different approach is needed. We need to recognize that this isn’t just a drug problem; it’s a societal and cultural issue. People don’t become addicted simply because substances or activities are addictive. They’re trying to fill a void in their lives. It was discovered that rats won’t consume constantly available drugs if they’re given a mate. If they’re alone, they use the drugs until they die.
So, what do we do about it? I definitely don’t want my city to end up like Portland or other big cities where you see those zombie-like individuals on synthetic cannabinoids and opioids. Waving the white flag and surrendering to legalization is a terrible idea. Laws help to define what is acceptable behavior in our society, and being a homeless zombie is not acceptable. You have to enforce the laws.
We also have to acknowledge that American culture has been degrading over the years. We need to figure out why that is and work to reverse it.
Enforcing the law doesn’t mean we need to create drug task forces targeting small-time dealers. It’s about making sure people understand there will be consequences for their actions. This requires cooperation from Democrat prosecutors and judges, which won’t happen in blue cities. Get out.
I’ve got nothing against legalization. My problem is with all the security blanket crap that comes with it.
You wanna be a addict go be an addict. Don’t expect us to waste resources keeping you warm, fed or alive. In time the problem should take care of itself.
I’m not saying to legalize it exactly. Our tactics are not working. How about mandatory rehab? Instead of prison a drug user goes to a .gov camp and stays there until his supervisors declare him to be ‘reformed’? If he returns to society he stays clean or goes back. He can potentially spend his life in a rehab camp.
Maybe require drug tests for all of the entertainment industry. Pop positive and you can not work in the industry until clean? Talent, writer, sound tech…doesn’t matter. Only the clean work.
Something has to change. We’re just wasting money and resources as it stands.
Decades ago, the conservatives began demanding that people on welfare be drug tested. Or anyone else who wanted government funds such as for college or a business.
But the le.g@liz.@ti.0n crowd refused to support that. They called it r@cist.
They were only telling on themselves. Because they supported Prop 47 which made it legal to steal.
The problem with the legalization crowd is that they don’t believe in accountability. They have never been very serious people.
They only believe in the soft, easy things. But the hard and difficult things, they want no part of the hard work required, to achieve success.
But they do want “free” c0nd0ms and “free” medical m@rijuan@.