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Drug War's Latest Achievement: Boosting Global Terrorism
Thirty-eight million arrests, most for simple possession. Lives ruined, families disrupted. America turned into the most prison-happy nation on the face of the earth. Illegal rewards incentivizing shooting fields in inner-city neighborhoods - enough bloodshed to appall even an Al Capone. More than $1 trillion in taxpayer outlays.
Thirty-six years after President Richard Nixon inaugurated this country's misbegotten "war on drugs," worldwide narcotics markets are booming, drug-ring profits are higher than ever, and drugs cost less than ever on the street.
Our "war" is a miserable, incredibly costly failure.
But now, we're learning, there's a jarring new dimension. The drug war is directly feeding international terrorism. The most startling new evidence comes from Afghanistan, where the U.S. is leading a full-blown NATO campaign to eradicate production of poppies, the plant from which heroin is derived.
Colossal failure is already apparent. Afghanistan is producing 95 percent of the world's poppies; production rose 58 percent last year alone.
And the biggest beneficiary? It's the Taliban, gaining popularity as it protects local poppy farmers against the Western-led eradication campaign. Then it becomes the opium sales agent into international markets, reaping huge amounts of money it can plow back into its terrorist campaign against the West.
One result, it's fair to say: American soldiers, dying in skirmishes in Afghanistan, are the latest casualties in the international campaign we've waged incessantly - with friendly governments, inside the U.N., wherever we've had the chance - to make drugs globally illegal. American administrations, Republican and Democratic, persistently blame foreign countries and international drug supplies for our own domestic narcotics appetite.
And then, notes Jack Cole, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, "we go to countries like Afghanistan, spend millions or billions over the years to spray poppies and coca plants, in the process risking poisoning of other crops and people on the ground. And despite that, every year we see bumper crops."
The other prime example is "Plan Colombia" - our multiyear, $4.7 billion (so far) campaign to stamp out coca production through spraying Colombia's farms, together with providing the Colombian government with military helicopters and sensitive intelligence-gathering technology. Our billions are also supposed to fight back FARC - the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - a 17,000-strong peasant-based army described by international crime and terrorism expert Misha Glenny as "by far the largest terrorist organization in the Southern Hemisphere." But FARC, like the Taliban, allies itself with local farmers and finances operations through the drug trade. Last year, coca production was up 8 percent.
Will we ever learn? President Bush now wants to channel about $1 billion to Mexico to fight "narco-trafficking and violence on our border." Like past Mexican presidents, Felipe Calderón has pledged a major anti-trafficking campaign, fighting drug cartels responsible just this year for more than 1,000 murders (including reporters, police and judges).
But more drug-fighting money to Mexico won't do any good, says Cole: The United States' prohibition policy has created a "super-obscene profit motive."
Will we find a presidential candidate willing to talk to us honestly about our disaster-strewn policy, to suggest rational paths toward drug legalization? To credit us with intelligence - that if we cared enough about our health to reduce drastically our consumption of readily available red meat, alcohol and tobacco, we might just be smart enough to resist dangerous narcotics?
I'm not holding my breath. Though, refreshingly, the rest of the world is starting to think afresh.
A prime example: The Senlis Council, a European-Canadian drug-policy institute that's done major research in Afghanistan, proposes licensing Afghanistan with the International Narcotics Control Board to sell its opium legally. Even a Western subsidy to pay Afghan farmers the same price the Taliban and drug lords do - about $600 million a year - would be well below what we're spending on eradication. And addiction is rare among pain patients.
Here's a chance for the West to spend money, visibly, helping poor Afghan farmers survive, instead of destroying their livelihoods. Simultaneously, the Taliban would lose its big revenue source for terrorist activities. Couldn't we be this humanitarian and smart - for once?
Neal Peirce's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His e-mail address is nrp@citistates.com
© 2007 The Seattle Times
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Show AllI'm so sick of the "War" on drugs. It's been a joke since inception and it will continue to be so until this Country pulls it's collective head out of it's ass and realizes it suits no purpose. Drug testing is an abomination and just another way to deny worker compensation benefits. We have orders that if we are injured on the job the FIRST call we are to make is to the Employment Company that "leases" us to our employer. They then make arrangements to intercept us at the hospital to be sure we are drug tested immediately before treatment. It's all about marijuana as another poster pointed out, you can be a complete crack head and never get caught. You can smoke one joint and get popped three weeks later on a random. It's ASSANINE!
Google Anslinger, Randolf Hearst, Dupont, and hemp and see what pops up. Check out the words of Jack Herer in his book, The Emperor wears no clothes, and a really enlighting video..The Emperor of Hemp. One other would be the gov. sponsered short film, Hemp for Victory, encouaging farmers to grow hemp for the war effort durring WWII. Hemp as a sustainable crop would mean no more trees would have to be cut for our paper needs. And its a stronger better paper. Levis were originaly made from hemp fibers and look up the origin of the word canvas. This plant could literally save the planet. Still we build more prisons (these days, private prisons)to lock up more recreational users. Its been around since biblical days and the medicinal uses alone is a reason this plant should be made legal. Stop the insanity. That all.
War on drugs as cyclic creation of a permanent underclass
Since illegal drug use has been blamed for feeding the growth of the underclass, this has caused prohibitionists to call for further increases in certain drug-crime penalties, even though some of these disrupt opportunities for drug users to advance in society in socially acceptable ways. It has been argued by Blumenson and Nilsen that this causes a vicious cycle: since penalties for drug crimes among youth almost always involve semi-permanent removal from opportunities for education, and later involve creation of criminal records which make employment far more difficult, that the "war on drugs" has in fact resulted in the creation of a permanent underclass of people who have few education or job opportunities, often as a result of being punished for drug offenses which in turn have resulted from attempts to earn a living in spite of having no education or job opportunities.[40]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs
Things don't make sense.
The Taliban strictly forbid poppy production before we invaded Afghanistan and now it's the main benefactor of its trade?
If we can't stop poppies how can we stop the trade of WMD?
It seems this would be the heart of the war if the Taliban were making millions of trading opium for money and arms!
Black Market money is untraceable so who knows who is in on all this crap!
if drugs had been legal in the 1980s, ollie north and the boys couldn't have financed their off-the-books terror campaigns in central america, and gary webb might still be alive. see "the politics of heroin in southeast asia" by alfred j. mc coy for an exhaustive treatment of this issue.
Even though I find "The war on drugs" to be a complete outrage, for all the reasons stated above; I just can't agree that legalization is the only option. Marijuana DOES impair your judgment and it is addictive. And while I fully believe that marijuana punishment should be downsized. Making it legal to adults will only make it that more readily accessible to minors. And I sympathize with responsible pot smokers, but it just ain't the case with the general public at large.
Hundreds of local municipal police departments make huge amounts of money by confiscating the property of small-time pot dealers. Drug testing companies have built huge businesses from drug testing that is only effective in detecting marijuana consumption. Pharma companies are scared to death that marijuana would be used to treat many different simple ailments such as stomach issues, low appetite, headaches, insomnia, and a host of other ailments that they already have poisonous pills for. The government doesn't want legalization because many are already "on the take" from the illegal drug trade profits, creating back doors for drugs to enter the country while lining their pockets with tax free money.
Drug testing has become especially concerned with the possibility of legalization, since they would lose their biggest source of positive test results, and their biggest reason for employer and insurance company testing. They will NEVER let this happen without a HUGE fight. Almost every other known illegal substance leaves the body within 48 hours, and cannot be traced in a drug test. Pot, however, can be traced for months or longer, thanks to hair analysis currently in-vogue.
In this current political climate it will be next to impossible to legalize, not to mention all the lobbying that continues against it on a regular basis.
Here is short sample message you should send your Representative today:
State and local police departments arrest over 700,000 individuals each year on marijuana charges. However after decades of arrests marijuana remains uncontrolled, widely available, and increasingly profitable. In the last 25 years marijuana cultivation developed into a massive, illicit, and untaxed market worth tens of billions of dollars. In my opinion marijuana law enforcement diverts important criminal justice resources from more important efforts to fight violent crime. A federal tax on marijuana sales would be a valuable source of revenue for drug treatment and other under-funded social programs. Most important, regulation of marijuana can decrease teenage access to the drug, something prohibition has failed to do over the last 35 years. It is time for the Congress to consider marijuana's legalization in the United States. Where do you stand on the issue of marijuana law reform? Do you support the continuation of our current failed policies, and if so, why? Or are you willing to consider new approaches to control the marijuana market and reduce marijuana's availability to teenagers and children?
Follow the steps below and when you get to step #5 either write your own message or copy the message above and paste it into the text box at the Congressional Web site. In any event, it's time for you to "Send Your Message" to your Congressional Representative and let them know you support marijuana's legalization.
Then, email the link to this column to all your friends and encourage them to also send a message to Congress in support of marijuana's legalization!
Arresting people for marijuana use is stupid and wrong. So is failing to take action to stop it. Be smart. Roll on with The 420 Campaign and help bring about the end to marijuana prohibition in the United States. Contact Congress Today.
Contacting your Congressional Representative:
1. If you don't know the four digit extension of your zip code, look it up here.
2. Go to this Web site provided by the House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/writerep/
3. Follow the instructions under the banner "To contact your Representative:" First, select your state of residence from the pull down menu. Second, enter your zip code and your four digit extension. Third, click the "Contact your Representative" button.
4. On the next screen, fill in your name, address, phone number, and email address. Then click the button that says "Continue to Text Entry Form."
5. Enter your message in the text box on the screen and then click the 'Send Your Message' button to submit.
http://www.hightimes.com/ht/legal/content.php?bid=663&aid=3
Marijuana DOES impair your judgment and it is addictive. Bullshit! I've never known anyone to start a war while stoned. I still say BULLSHIT. I've never know anyone to OD on pot, but I can think of endless cases where drunks cause their deaths and the deaths of others. Which gov. source do you use to rationalize that statement. And the main word is GOV. And in my earlier post I was not advocating pot for recreational use, although I proudly partake from time to time, but on the HEMP PLANT that has more uses than any sigle drop of booze. Do your research, better yet, fire one up and see for yourself. And Im not so sure the general public at large would agree with you either. Prove me wrong.
billjv and ezeflyer got it right.
>> "War on drugs as cyclic creation of a permanent underclass"
Exactly! This is probly one of the most sinister ulterior motives behind the draconian war on drugs; it helps knock people down into poverty and keeps them there, where they cannot pose any realistic competition for the ruling-class.
The stigmata of marijuana as the "gateway drug" to harder drugs is one of the most blatant, unscientific pieces of BS drug-war propaganda to come out of the asses of the Reagan/Bush41 WH. It enabled the demonization of a majority of pot-growers and users in the working-class (lower and middle), most of whom voted democratic in the 80s, and resulted in the growth of this under-class with the addition of a lot of "dirty hippies" (another stigmata and stereotype).
It also enabled the cocaine business to become more poular in the 80s than marijuana, which was the most popular drug of the 70s. Cocaine is much more addictive and destructive than marijuana.
Marijuana has been, for the past 25 years, the perfect scapegoat for the corporate politicians, due to its relatively harmless effects and immense popularity. The more popular an illegal drug, the more working-class people that can be demonized, knocked down, kicked, and forced into subservient submission by the fascist state.
The rethugs that are presently responsible for making the US government a fiasco and the world a low-rent slum for multiple millions (playground for the wealthy, slave-camp for the poor) managed to gain all of the present power by destroying the competition via the "war on drugs" for the past 30 years.
LOL LOL thank you texrey for your comment. And he's right , I too have never known anyone to start a war being stoned, nor have I known any stoner to start anything except a bag of doritos. If texrey you can read all the way down to this sentence, I never mentioned OD. I think maybe you PROUDLY PARTAKE a little more than you think , and are a perfect example of why I don't want my son to turn into a stoner.
You still did not prove me wrong or I think you would have. How do I respond to this. Well first When I replied to your original post I was not trying to encourage your son (I know you never said that) or anyone to smoke this HARMLESS WEED, I mentioned it more as a sustainable crop with many, many benifits to MANKIND. If your son is over 15 he's probably already tried it. If your over 40, I'll bet you have even sneeked a toke.It's not for everyone. And second, well start by proving me wrong. The bag of dorritos think wont cut it. That might mean you'll have to put down that beer, turn off the television and do some homework. I know people at all levels of society and occupations, that smoke THE WEED and fuction quite well. It would just blow your little mind.I read your words but you don't make much sense, And I'm not even stoned. Try agian. So on that note "scuse me while I kiss the sky". Thanks for the dialog daddio! Tex
indijo !!!!!!! What? Have you even smoked pot? Relative harmless effects? You seem like a nice and conscientious person, but I must make an example of you nonetheless. Your comments are those of a naiveté's. Since you haven't made any references to "beevis and buthead " thus far you're probably not stoned as you write. You're probably some hackie sack playing hippie, straight out of college. Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but yes, as a little boy or girl grows older he or she has an ever more growing appetite to get high. Gateway? Come on, do you really think that someone becomes a crack-head before other drugs first. You are just like all the other bloggers, who use big words , but have no life experience. As a person who has a job, stoner co-employee rather suck.
YAY! You responded TexMex! Yes, I agree this HARMLESS WEED has many benefits. It's called HEMP. But what you're smoking now and obviously affecting your writing is called, "marijuana".
Soo. indijo, want anymore supporters? You have texrey, good luck.
For damon13:
Who told you that weed is addictive? I know several people, including myself, who just got bored with it and quit. No withdrawals, no need for counseling, no 12-step programs. Just said, "enough."
The only harmful thing about it is what can happen to you if you get caught with it.
Man you really tore that guy a new one,huh! INDIJIO, I hear what your saying bro, right on. Hey Damion, RIGHT ON, thats hippie for cool. Oh, yeah you don't speak hippie. I think the only example you made was just how laughable you are. You know, your the only one to make a reference to Beavis and Butthead was you, bro! Whats wrong with hackey sack,or college. Whats a matter, no one would play hackey with you. Couldn't get into college. I have also know some who ARE crackheads(I have more life experience than you)that belive it or not, Never smoked pot. Imagine that. started out on booze. Do you have any experiece with addictions. Oh yeah, that would require you to have a heart,...or a badge! You still haven't proven me wrong. Your too easy.
liberalinkansas, weed isn't addictive to everyone. Neither is any drug. Some people yes , others no. But that doesn't change the larger statistics. I've done meth and coke, not addicted, but because I'm not addicted does that blind me to many who are. Sure Marijuana isn't as addictive as harder drugs, but I have lived with those that sure did need to smoke pot everyday. Everyday. Were they addicted?
Q. What is the difference between politicians and stoners ?
A. Politicians don't inhale...they just suck.
I agree with liberalinkansas;
The only harmful thing about it is what can happen to you if you get caught with it.
-Just another reason to keep us poor.
Theories are unproved. I'm a conspiracy truthist.
In the Arrogance previoulsy known as America...
Hemp cannot be grown in the US because the police are too stupid to know the difference between that and marijuana. That is the lie we are told by politicians. the truth is that the day marijuana AND HEMP nbecame illegal Dow chemical began supplying petrol oil for paints replacing the hemp seed oil which was previoulsy the base of all oil paints and HARMLESS.
Tobbacco is the true 'gateway' drug and nearly every redneck in America has a parent that smokes. the killer is the chemicals used in cigarettes, which is why you cannot grow your own tobacco at home. If you could no one would buy today's cigarettes cause in comparison to smoking real tobbacco they would taste like shit.
The next step is alcohol - which is both legal and far more destructive in every way than marijuana. The only war going on is a war on people while the pharmacuetical companies line up to sell over 4,000 TONS of Ritalyn to your children every year. So when your neighbor shoots himself in the head on Ambien, this is not a problem. If you kid smoked a little pot he should be locked up and taken away from you. this stabilizes the family unit and sends a positive message to kids. It also gives the government enough leverage to avoid having to institute a military draft.
God Bless america.
Damon13 continues to perpetuate the discredited myths about Marijuana. Damon13 is an addict. He is addicted to the War on Drugs. In Damon's world alcohol is the all American good drug, while Marijuana (a medicinal herb!) is the bad drug. He embraces that Alice in Wonderland philosophy and expects everyone to do the same. Damon13 should be Bush's drug czar. He is as stupid as the Drug Czar we have. Why are Americans like Damon13 such sheep when it comes to the war on drugs?
"Will we find a presidential candidate willing to talk to us honestly about our disaster-strewn policy...?"
There is such a candidate. Here is a quote from his website:
"We are losing an entire generation of young men and women to our prisons. Our nation's ineffective and wasteful "war on drugs" plays a major role in this. We must place a greater emphasis on rehabilitation and prevention. We must de-criminalize minor drug offenses and increase the availability and visibility of substance abuse treatment and prevention in our communities as well as in jails and prisons."
Check out more at www.gravel08.us/issues
LOL marijuana is addictive...Is that the standard for legalizing? If so, please explain nicotine and alcohol being legal? Please, I'll wait, honest ROFLMAO...Nicotine is harder than HEROINE to quit but nobody is screaming to criminalize it's use. 500 thousand people DIE in this country every year as a result of tobacco use, 250 thousand DIE every year from alcohol use, how many have died from marijuana? Oh yeah, NONE. FOOLS
Let me clarify what I meant by marijuana being "relatively harmless".
Compared to alcohol and tobacco, it is relatively harmless, and those drugs are legal. Marijuana may make people somewhat less capable of shopping for useless junk and eating at McDonalds, but it doesn't actually impair people unless they abuse it and/or overuse it. It is NOT a gateway drug any more than alcohol, tobacco, junk-food or television (the act of consumption for fun); the drug dealers are the real gateway, because they sell hard drugs to gullible pot-users for easier, higher profits.
Dealers know they can make higher profits selling crack-cocaine so they sell it to gullible young people with hype about a better high with no warnings attached. Take marijuana out of the hands of illegal dealers and those who use it won't be suckered into using crack.
While I do support the idea of legal marijuana, I do NOT support the idea of making it easier to access by young kids under 18. If one follows the logic presented by Jack Cole (ex-drug warrior) of LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php ), legalization of drugs would actually make them less accessible by children because the trade would be in the hands of legal vendors with licenses who would not sell to kids for fear of losing their licenses. Illegal drug-dealers, on the other hand, have nothing more to fear or lose, no matter if they sell to adults or children.
Legal marijuana, for example, would also include more factual and realistic, scientific education about it, as well as warnings or precautions on the labels. Illegal marijuana has no labels or practical information on the package whatsoever, so those who use it either depend upon the dealers for hyped info or knowledgeable experience.
I am in my mid-40s and have been using marijuana medicinely since I was about 16. I had a bit of a psychological addiction when I was young, but it was a direct cause of living in the house of an alcoholic step-father. Using the herb helped me relax and forget about the monster when he wasn't around. Later, I got over the psychological addiction (after escaping that hell-hole) but I also learned that I suffered from a schizoid personality disorder, complicated by anxiety, insomnia, and severe depression. And NO, it was NOT caused by marijuana. It was, in fact, caused by living in a house with a severely dysfunctional alcoholic step-father who was prone to violence (he beat my mother almost every weekend, for almost 10 years).
I like having access to marijuana, because it helps me relax, avoid depression, sleep better, and appreciate my work more (computer graphics and animation), but I can get by fine without it (everythings just a bit more difficult). Presently, I've been without it for over 3 years, which is a new record. I miss it much, but my work is much too important for me to let its absence bother me. If it were truly addictive, I wouldn't be able to get by without it. Its been 3 years and I'm okay, despite the psychological and other usual problems.
One of the things that bothers me about this war on drugs is that every time a politician tries to sell harm-reduction policies to the public, some damn fear-mongering fascist perpetuates the same old lies to scare people away from voting for them. The present policies being employed do nothing but make life more difficult for drug-users. Being imprisoned, fined, demonized, and knocked down into an under-class of society is not the best way to deal with the problem. Since those laws have little or no affect upon the wealthy corporate ruling-class, one can see why they continue to support them.
I smoked in HS then quit for fifteen years. I started smoking again when my father was terminally ill to try and relieve some of the stress. It HELPS. Had I gone to a psychiatrist to treat my depression I'd be hopped up on several different ADDICTIVE anti-depressants by now instead of smoking a bowl to unwind. They are now working on a pill form of THC to be used as an anti-depressant, imagine that. I could have told them it works great for depression ten years ago LOL...It's also great for various digestive problems of which I have many. I've led a good life, don't steal, lie or kill anyone but should I be caught with a joint or hit with a random drug test I'd be demonized, given a criminal record etc. The real irony is, I'm a bartender but I have to take drug tests LMAO...It's ok to sling alcohol which ruins many thousands of lives and kills hundreds of thousands but by God don't smoke a damn joint!
People you forget that keeping marijuana illegal keeps the government going. Each state makes more money keeping it illegal than making it legal. Taxing it won't make as much money as if were taxed. It helps making government bigger and don't forget in ten years i believe because of cheap labor in china 75 to 100 million americans will be out of work so pot smokers will be the people the prison system will need to work the farms and other places that won't pay a decent wage. So they would rather have pot smokers in prison than murderers and rapists cause pot smokers are intelligent and won't make trouble for the guards. the prison system would rather have pot smokers, who basically are pacifists instead of socialpaths or psychopaths that the prison system would let them out to keep crime going and would mean job security for the facists, police, DEA, FBI, ect. while the pot smokers would be working for nothing(only way to compete with China and other cheap labor countries). And with the government's TALON program, they would be able to pick out the person they need for a particular job and then go out and arrest him on some hyped up charge. Taxing pot would only earn less than a quarter of the money which it currently brings in by keeping it illegal. And what would happen to the prison system that can(thru the law congress passed years ago) that they are allowed to steal another companies patent and make and sell that product, even if it puts the company that owns the patent which produces the product out of business. ONe that comes to mind is the company from NY that patented,and made a blanket for the Army since 1850, lost their contract in 2002, had to close down and 150 workers thrown out of work. Who makes and sells the product to the Army now? The prison system. The drug war is like any war: It's all about money. So the comments above mean nothing. The drug war is as crooked as our politicians.
I shared this anecdote months ago. As a young teen I went to Washington DC for one of the biggest anti-war protests ever. About 500,000 kids were on the White House lawn and MANY joints were passed, music played, while we burned effigies of Richard Nixon. MANY of the political players watching this scene are NOW active in government, and they SAW the analogy between our generation's connection with grass and a means to render our votes impotent: make the drug illegal, set up a criminal record, and disenfranchise this problematic demographic. I believe it has a lot to do with this... added to all the other realistic comments about the true costs: benefits infrastructure now generated from the "war on drugs." NOTHING is ever won through fighting, it is only prolonged: war on poverty, war on fat, war on illiteracy, war on drugs, war on terrorism, ad nauseum!
damon13 September 4th, 2007 8:13 pm:
"...Marijuana DOES impair your judgment and it is addictive..."
Horseshit! Just like so many others out there, you've bought into the DEA's media hype. Firstoff, lots of things impair your judgement, but the single biggest threat there BY FAR is good ol' legal alcohol, not illegal weed. Secondly, let me explain to you what an "addictive" substance is. The most obvious example is heroin, but it could just as easily be methamphetamine, cocaine or nicotine. When these substances are used long-term, they cause semi-permanent changes in the body's and the brain's regulatory systems. Thus when use is stopped, the user feels "sick" and craves more of the drug because the body's regulatory mechanisms are out of whack without it. The other term for this is "physical dependence". Marijuana causes no such changes. Which is not to say that it is not "habit-forming", in the same sense that playing video games or rock climbing might be. Anything that's enjoyable can be habit-forming, but that doesn't make all those things bad. The worst "withdrawal" I've seen from pot users consisted of calling everyone they know in an attempt to find more, then giving up and making dinner. Not remotely comparable to jonesing for a hit of crack, for which many people will KILL COMPLETE STRANGERS and steal their money.
"...Making it legal to adults will only make it that more readily accessible to minors..."
Again, this is straight out of the DEA's list of reasons pot needs to remain illegal, and like the first example, it's a load of crap. Have you talked to any high school (or for that matter, JUNIOR high school) students lately? The stuff is easier to get now BY FAR than it was in the 60's-70's, and of higher quality as well. I was there, I know. The only difference now is that it costs more. So that would tell us that 50 years of money and effort to keep weed out of junior's hands has been a complete waste, because it's easier for him to find today than it was before. And all because our approach has been to make it illegal and therefore highly profitable. You should know that the profit motive in the pot distribution business operates just like it does in any other business. If a market is there, someone will step forward to meet the market's demand, and illegal markets just mean excessive profits. It's a no-brainer, really. Make the stuff legal and cheap, and the criminal black market will disappear overnight. Will junior still have access to it? Yes, just as he does now. Look at cigarettes. Use of those has been declining for years, because we didn't just ban them outright, we EDUCATED people, allowing them to make informed choices to use them or not, and recycled taxes from the smokes sold back into educational and stop-smoking assistance programs. And it's working well, so far, even though nicotine truly IS addictive. This is the same model we should be following with ALL street drugs, if you ask me.
That's my two cents worth.
Wow, I had to actually go back and re-read my posts. *reading* Hmmm. I said I was AGAINST the War on Drugs. I said that hemp was different than Marijuana. I even said that while I thought pot is addictive, I said RELATIVELY. Even food can be relatively addictive. I never once said alcohol or cigarettes are a good thing or that their harmful effects don't deserve attention too. BUT, I did say that pot impairs judgment. How do I know this? Cause I drive really bad when I'm stoned. But it seems the part of the brain most effected by my fellow bloggers is on your memory to remember what I wrote.
side-note to forextrader. I wish I was the Drug Czar. I'd have a mountain full of coke in my house. And YOU are not invited. LOL