If Walter Cronkite were still alive, and reporting, he would probably give the same pronouncement about the “War On Drugs” that he did about the “War in Vietnam“.
“The War is Lost”.
I am not going to got, as of this moment, into the discussion of harder drugs such as opium, not the perfume, cocaine, or heroin, at this time… I am planning to rant on about marijuana and the “War” against it….
Given that cannabis has been around since about 3000BC, only been outlawed since the early 1900, and the War was declared in just the last 50 years, or so, you might say that there had not really been enough time for the War to take effect… Maybe that is the reason that we have not been able to stop the manufacture, distribution, and use of this terrible drug, or medical wonder.. it all depends on who you talk to.. The group NORMAL will tell you that it is the third most used recreational drug, behind alcohol and tobacco, and that it has wonderful properties for medical use…. The National Ins. for Drug Abuse, part of the National Inst. for Health, will tell you that it is a terrible drug with benefits that are not worth the dangers it posses.
medical marijuana is proscribed for a number of medical problems, and is supposed to be useful with pain relief, increasing appetites, decreasing nausea, and other types of symptoms.. Many people see its uses as good and believe that it would be best, to at least, pass laws allowing the use for medical purposes. Others see this as evidence that it should be legalized…
Over the years marijuana has been demonized in the press… Just look at those old movies, such as “Reefer Madness” , that portray even casual use as leading to homicidal madness. That particular move became a Cult Clasic in propaganda, and can still be viewes on some of the old movies sites..
When you try to decie good or bad remember that you should look at the aim of the people who put out the reports.. Normal, you can guess, is interested in ending the prohibition. The NIDA is interested in keeping the prohibition. The Feds and local Law Enforcement spend millions to enforce laws that allow them to confiscate property used in these crimes…..
Some years ago the Manatee County Sheriff Office’s Delta Team, thier special drig interdiction team, was found to have planted drugs in people cars so that the vehicles could be confiscated and used by the team.. At least one woman was sent to jail after she was framed and her fancy car confiscated…
The War on Drugs goes on, and the flow of marijuana does as well…
What are the effects of marijuana use… Price is hight because it is illegal. That prompts people to get into the trade.. The Cartels, who smuggle it along with other drugs, either pay off croooked cops, or kill the honest ones who get in their way, then smuggle it into this country. The drugs are then sold to gangs who sell it in poorer neighborhoods to people who can not really afford the high price that comes with the drugs… Namely the gangs who kill people who get in their way, and/or pay off the people who are supposed to protect the public from just this kind of crime..
The kind of financial inducements that this trade can offer is often more than some underpaid officers can resist, while others, who believe in their jobs are sometimes killed for their efforts.
When the government, DEA, FBI, or NIDA, tell me that the so called positive effect of marijuana are not worth the damage they do, I tend to wonder if the prohibition against this drugs is worth all the money that is thrown at useless enforcement, the death of honerable law enforcement officers, or the killing of people who do not want the gangs selling on their street.. Is all that money worth making rich people out of trash?
Is all the pain and corruption worth it just to protect someone who is stupid enough to throw their life away on drugs?
Why don’t we just legalize it and take away all the money that just feeds the cycle of violence.. We can’t save everybody, we can only help people who want to help themselves… We could spend some of those millions of dollars, now used trying to stop the tide of marijuana imports, on those people we can help, and maybe we could get some tax money out of the people who still want to use it..
We don’t have to feed crime, in order to protect those with more money than brains…
There is always talk about “victims of crime”. The victims here are not the users. The victims here are the families of the users, the people who find their officers are being seduced by the money they can get, from protecting the criminals, and the people, as well as REAL Law enforcement Officers, who are killed by the drug trade…
The War on Drugs is lost, and was never really worth fighting in the first place… Marijuana may damage the brains of the users but, as far as I am concerned there was already brain damage when they started to use it in the first place… and if there is a useful purpose for this drug maybe the legalization would do some good for the sick, and save money spent in useless efforts..
Related articles
- Bigger busts mean drug war is failing (blogs.vancouversun.com)
- How Drugs Can Win the War on Drugs (txwclp.org)
- Marijuana Debate Continues At Capitol (krextv.com)
- Stop Drugs Before They Start (myschoolsigns.com)
- Legal pot ‘will reduce crime,’ Seattle mayor McGinn declares (seattlepi.com)
- Penn and Teller – War on Drugs (newzaholic.com)
- Race in the War on Drugs: The Social Consequences of Presidential Rhetoric (lawandcourts.com)
- Russell Simmons: the war on drugs made victims of the black community (guardian.co.uk)
That Joe Guy 
It is a truth: “GOD helps those who help themselves.” Can you go to rehab and ZAP!, just stop using drugs? Nooooooo… So the question is: Why do you use them? Escape reality… Just for the thrill or hallutionation of it… My friends all do them… I like the “high”… What was the question again? George Carlin once said: “Do you kbow why they’ll never pass the marijuana laws? No one can remember where the petitions are!” Yes, the best answer to all the crime and punishment is to make it a crime to sell it without a license. The U.S. Govt. could almost eradicate our National Debt in half the time if they just sold and taxed the crop!! And YES; there is very good evidence that marijuana alleviates the side effects of cancer meds, certain forms of dementia, and so on. The worst thing is that it is addictive and causes loss of memory and brain cells. (In most people the two are related…) I think that driving under the influence of Marijuana is JUST AS DANGEROUS as driving DRUNK!! Maybe more so. Some times people driving under MJ do not remember where they are! THAT is really alarming.
So what happens when we legalixe MJ? We have more stoned drivers, people operating equipment (airplanes, buses, trains, taxis, bulldozers, etc.) and their full attention is not there. This could lead to more “accidental” deaths than we have now with law enforcement and hard criminals/gangs. (Personally, I don’t miss the criminals or ANY gang member.)
And so I have to agree with one thing Loe points out: It is a lose—lose situation! Only some oddball Govt. functionary wouolod find anything good about this. ONCE SOMEONE AT A HIGH LEVEL (PRESIDENT) ADMITS THAT IT IS A REAL DANGEROUS CRIME TO BE UNDER THE IN FLUENCE OR TO PUT PEOPLE IN DANGER DUE TO LACK OF COHERENCE, THEN WE MIGHT FINALLY ESTABLISH A PENALTY TO FIT THE CIRCUMSTANCES. I THINK THAT A MINIMUM JAIL TERM FOR ANY INFRACTION WOULD BE A HELP; BE IT A DAY OR TWO, OR A DECADE OR MORE… We really have to STOP being so STUPIDLY LIBERAL and get real about the dangers inherent in NOT enforcing the laws we have. To say we think the War on Drugs is lost is also to admit that there are many other laws not worth enforcing as well. Where does this madness STOP?? It doesn’t, unless we make it stop.
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