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kiknkorea
Joined: 16 May 2008
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 Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 6:42 am Post subject: US drug war has met none of its goals |
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MEXICO CITY � After 40 years, the United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread.
Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn't worked.
"In the grand scheme, it has not been successful," Kerlikowske told The Associated Press. "Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified."
This week President Obama promised to "reduce drug use and the great damage it causes" with a new national policy that he said treats drug use more as a public health issue and focuses on prevention and treatment.
Nevertheless, his administration has increased spending on interdiction and law enforcement to record levels both in dollars and in percentage terms; this year, they account for $10 billion of his $15.5 billion drug-control budget. |
Nothing too surprising here, though some of the numbers in the article are fascinating.
Full story-
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100513/ap_on_re_us/failed_drug_war |
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Depths of My Soul
Joined: 04 Apr 2010
Location: In The Sun
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| Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 8:20 am Post subject: |
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I always thought the US wanted more drugs.
After all, isn't that one of the reasons they were so keen to get rid of the Afghanistani Talibani? |
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.38 Special
Joined: 08 Jul 2009
Location: Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 8:44 am Post subject: |
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| Depths of My Soul wrote: |
I always thought the US wanted more drugs.
After all, isn't that one of the reasons they were so keen to get rid of the Afghanistani Talibani? |
Of all the conspiracy theories I've heard I think this takes the cake. US govt. fakes 9/11 to score more dope? 
I jest, of course.
As for the war on drugs: I think it has been largely successful and containing the problem, but not eradicating it. No such thing is possible.
The article is intentionally misleading. Violent crime is at a 20 year low in the US. It says violent crime is rampaging -- in Mexico City. Thanks for the red herring, AP.
Whether low crime prevalence has anything to do with narcotics in the US is impossible to tell. In my opinion it is. If drugs caused the massive violence of the 70s through the 90s, and violent crime is down below that level, then I think it is safe to say that the war on drugs has had some positive effect.
Don't get me wrong. The war on drugs has been brutal, mean, and has wreaked havoc on our criminal justice system. It has also hurt Mexico and Central America... a lot.
But I will say that there has been a few positives, most of which are found in the wake of other programs as well, such as the anti-gang task forces of the 90s.
I don't think the war on drugs should be deleted... but it sure could use a lot of reform, that's a goddamned fact.  |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 9:16 am Post subject: |
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Declining crime rates have been largely attributed to the ageing population. Reducing the percentage of teens and young adults reduces the crime rate.
The Drug War has been very successful in achieving several things:
1) It employes a vast army of government agents who in turn support the big socialist machine.
2) It greatly increases the price level and profits of criminal activity, increases violence in the US, increases the wealth of criminal kingpins who, in turn, recognize that the War on Drugs makes them rich. They support the drug warriors and oppose repeal of the War on Drugs.
3) By increasing the profits from criminal activity, it greatly increases the amount of criminal activity from what it would otherwise be - and increases the strength, availability, sale, and use of drugs by the population.
4) It makes it much easier to arrest and imprison the poor, disadvantaged and minority populations of the US who often turn to illegal activity to support themselves financially since the legal labor market is so regulated by the Fascist-Socialist US government as to preclude all reasonable chances for these disadvantaged citizens to attain the American Dream. |
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.38 Special
Joined: 08 Jul 2009
Location: Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 9:23 am Post subject: |
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| ontheway wrote: |
| Declining crime rates have been largely attributed to the ageing population. Reducing the percentage of teens and young adults reduces the crime rate. |
The population is still growing, so there are more young people today than there were before. After all, there are tons of baby-boomers, yes, but they had kids, and their kids have had kids. Another aspect of our growing population is immigration -- and the problems they can bring.
Then there are the violent gangs, which grew in size and sophistication throughout the 90s. What's going on there today is a mystery. It's hard to say.
Over all, I think imprisoning so many goddamned people has had the positive effect of putting a great many criminally inclined people behind bars. It's an unprovable, perhaps bizarre, theory, but it is possible.
| Quote: |
The Drug War has been very successful in achieving several things:
1) It employes a vast army of government agents who in turn support the big socialist machine.
2) It greatly increases the price level and profits of criminal activity, increases violence in the US, increases the wealth of criminal kingpins who, in turn, recognize that the War on Drugs makes them rich. They support the drug warriors and oppose repeal of the War on Drugs.
3) It makes it much easier to arrest and imprison the poor, disadvantaged and minority populations of the US who often turn to illegal activity to support themselves financially since the legal labor market is so regulated by the Fascist-Socialist US government as to preclude all reasonable chances for these disadvantaged citizens to attain the American Dream. |
Believe it or not, I agree with most of this. But Pandora's Box is open. It cannot be shut. The healing process will take a long while... I don't think the American people have that much patience.
Baby steps, amigos. |
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alljokingaside
Joined: 17 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 10:57 am Post subject: |
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http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/why-is-marijuana-illegal/
"And still I see no changes. Can't a brother get a little peace?
There's war on the streets & the war in the Middle East.
Instead of war on poverty,
they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me. " |
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No_hite_pls
Joined: 05 Mar 2007
Location: Don't hate me because I'm right
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| Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 11:04 am Post subject: |
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| ontheway wrote: |
Declining crime rates have been largely attributed to the ageing population. Reducing the percentage of teens and young adults reduces the crime rate.
The Drug War has been very successful in achieving several things:
1) It employes a vast army of government agents who in turn support the big socialist machine.
2) It greatly increases the price level and profits of criminal activity, increases violence in the US, increases the wealth of criminal kingpins who, in turn, recognize that the War on Drugs makes them rich. They support the drug warriors and oppose repeal of the War on Drugs.
3) By increasing the profits from criminal activity, it greatly increases the amount of criminal activity from what it would otherwise be - and increases the strength, availability, sale, and use of drugs by the population.
4) It makes it much easier to arrest and imprison the poor, disadvantaged and minority populations of the US who often turn to illegal activity to support themselves financially since the legal labor market is preclude all reasonable chances for these disadvantaged citizens to attain the American Dream. |
+10 |
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visitorq
Joined: 11 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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| .38 Special wrote: |
| Depths of My Soul wrote: |
I always thought the US wanted more drugs.
After all, isn't that one of the reasons they were so keen to get rid of the Afghanistani Talibani? |
Of all the conspiracy theories I've heard I think this takes the cake. US govt. fakes 9/11 to score more dope? |
Are you unaware of the fact that post-invasion heroin production in Afghanistan has gone up nearly 3200% since its lowest production levels under the Taliban? It's also a fact that the CIA is one of the biggest drug runners on the planet - they've been caught several times, this is mainstream knowledge. Moreover, American troops in Afghanistan are being made to protect the opium fields, which is basically all that many of them do there (there's even clips of Geraldo Rivera interviewing them on location talking about how we 'need' to tolerate their "opium growing culture" - the whole thing is a sick joke). Meanwhile the Russians (who have an epidemic of heroin abuse tearing their society apart) are offering to spray the poppy fields themselves, but have been rejected outright by NATO.
What's the conspiracy theory exactly? The federal government benefits greatly from the fake war on drugs, just as it benefits from the fake war on terror. This is obvious, and just common sense.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fww_b1YVdco |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 11:49 pm Post subject: |
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| visitorq wrote: |
| .38 Special wrote: |
| Depths of My Soul wrote: |
I always thought the US wanted more drugs.
After all, isn't that one of the reasons they were so keen to get rid of the Afghanistani Talibani? |
Of all the conspiracy theories I've heard I think this takes the cake. US govt. fakes 9/11 to score more dope? |
Are you unaware of the fact that post-invasion heroin production in Afghanistan has gone up nearly 3200% since its lowest production levels under the Taliban? It's also a fact that the CIA is one of the biggest drug runners on the planet - they've been caught several times, this is mainstream knowledge. Moreover, American troops in Afghanistan are being made to protect the opium fields, which is basically all that many of them do there (there's even clips of Geraldo Rivera interviewing them on location talking about how we 'need' to tolerate their "opium growing culture" - the whole thing is a sick joke). Meanwhile the Russians (who have an epidemic of heroin abuse tearing their society apart) are offering to spray the poppy fields themselves, but have been rejected outright by NATO.
What's the conspiracy theory exactly? The federal government benefits greatly from the fake war on drugs, just as it benefits from the fake war on terror. This is obvious, and just common sense.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fww_b1YVdco |
Former DEA Chief Judge Robert Bonner called the CIA the biggest drug runners in the country on a national broadcast of 60 Minutes. You cannot get much more mainstream than that, yet someone will call that a conspiracy theory!
VQ, you should know by now that the epithet "conspiracy theory" is misused by many when they want to disagree but just have no facts with which to do so. |
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