Martin Wolf at ft.com: "The global war on drugs has failed. Readers should not take my word for this. It is the opening sentence of a report on the failures of prohibition from an independent Global Commission on Drug Policy. What makes this report astonishing is not its content, now widely accepted among disinterested people, but who is associated with it. Among signatories are George Shultz, former US secretary of state, Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Kofi Annan, former secretary general of the United Nations, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil, Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico and Javier Solana, former European Union high representative for foreign and security policy. Salute them all. They are honourable people prepared to state that the policy on which the world has engaged for decades, at the behest of the US, is a disaster. While failing to reduce the ills of drug use at which it is addressed, it has created massive âcollateral damageâ: the spread of avoidable diseases; use of drugs in dangerous forms; mass criminalisation and incarceration; a gigantic waste of public resources; corruption; creation of a cross-border network of organised crime; and the subversion of states. Mexico is perhaps the most important contemporary victim. It is a war with myriad innocent victims." full article at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aae86202-8e10-11e0-bee5-00144feab49a.html Is this the dumbest policy ever made by contemporary politicians & society?
Prohibition in the 1920s made Al Capone and his cronies very rich, but it did not stop people from drinking alcohol. Apparently nothing was learned from this experience.
It's certainly a strong candidate, right up there with open-door immigration. And yet, hardly any politicians or thought-leaders seem concerned about either...
The prohibitions on drugs happened about the same time as on alcohol. and no,people did learn from it, they had drugs made illegal so they could make a killing in the various aspects of the drug business... so many people use alcohol that the prohibition didn't stick but drugs was another story...
So true! I paid my way through College as a Police Officer. (A few moons ago.) Anytime I investigated crime, 8 times out of 10 illegal drugs were involved, and the people buying the drugs were buying them from criminals. If we look at Portugal where ALL drugs were legalized, their crime rate is now down 50%. The allure among the young just isn't there as there is no "mystique" in sneaking around, etc., to get stoned, and the criminals who sold the stuff are now out of business. All the war on drugs is in the USA is one big scheme to keep the government massive, and control it's subjects. Yes that's right, we are subjects living here. Our Founding Fathers used to have secret meetings before they drafted the US Constitution, drink wine, and smoke cannabis during the meetings. Well known fact, but not highly publicized. I'm sure if they knew what has come of THEIR Country in 2011, they would be rolling around in their graves. Do I use drugs? Hell no! BUT, I believe people are responsible for their own behaviors, and if they want to lay around all day stoned, that's their perogative. If they drive a car that way, hurt someone, then they go away for a good while. But to have a government say we CAN put legal, deadly cigarettes in our bodies, then drink legal deadly alcohol (i.e., tax money...), but can consume no other drugs the idiots don't approve of defies all logic, and I find it to be highly unconstitutional. Gotta love today's police departments and feds dressed like commandos carrying full auto weapons, breaking down a familys front door, shooting their dogs, putting machine guns in the family and kids face, all over a guy growing pot in his house.
Exactly how is Mexico going to win our war on drugs when they have legalized drugs for personal consumptio_n? Mexico: As of August 25, 2009,the Mexican legislatur_e officially legalized small doses of cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and ecstasy for personal use. No action will be taken for those carrying up to half a gram of cocaine. Peru and Bolivia: Limited cultivatio_n of coca is legal in Peru and Bolivia, where chewing the leaves and drinking coca tea are considered cultural practices, in particular in the mountainou_s regions. Processed cocaine is illegal. Colombia: In 1994, possession of 1 gram of cocaine was legalized for personal use. Sale remains illegal, but personal production or gifts of cocaine are permitted.
Hard to win a war when the police are murdered for trying. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/14/us-mexico-drugs-idUSTRE71D6Y920110214 some only a month on the job http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/world/americas/12mexico.html
I do not use drugs either. However, we can not afford the money we spend on police, courts, social services and jails. Its an incredible amount of money. Its time to legalize many of the illegal drugs, so that we can devote resources to better uses.
The War on Drugs is ridiculous... the US has been messing with countries south of the border about the drugs supplied when all that had to be done was to legalize everything in the US. The allure goes away when things are legal and education is very easy to do with regard to legal drugs when the criminals are not continually producing new stuff for people to try... Socialism is equally ridiculous... I can't vote for any of these major parties in the US, they make my stomach churn the way they sell us out to bigger government...