Drug War

I was pondering the war on drugs tonight for some odd reason. I lived through the 60's, 70's, and 80's. I simply do not remember anywhere NEAR the violence and crime being committed prior to the so-called "war on drugs".

It seems so completely transparent to me that the crime and violence stems directly to the prohibition, exactly the same way the crime and violence resulted during alcohol prohibition.

The sad thing for people who want to end prohibition is that this incredibly wasteful use of taxpayers money, and the ludicrous numbers of arrests in the U.S. keep so many people employed, and get so many politicians re-elected, that I really don't see an end to the stupidity in my lifetime. Think of all the prison wardens, guards, policemen, FBI agents, DEA agents, CIA agents, local police and sheriffs, as well as coast guard, and even branches of the military that are 100% directly employed ONLY because of this prohibition. That's a LOT of money tied up there friends. Literally billions of dollars.

And let's not forget the attorneys in this drama. How many prosecutors and defense attorneys make a HUGE living in simple drug possession cases? Think they want to lose their vacation homes on the beach and the BMW their spouses drive?

I was in peace marches, I protested the Vietnam War, I over-indulged during the 70's with everyone else, and never did I see the violence and crime during those times that I do now. It all stems back to money. In this country, follow the money. ALWAYS follow the money. All wars, whether in Iraq, Vietnam, or on drugs....look to see who profits from it.

Why is there so much crime? Because when black-market profiteers run the show, they don't negotiate in conference rooms. They do it with a gun on the street. People who desire the product (whatever that product might be) will find a way to obtain it, no matter how many laws are passed. If the U.S. would at least become as open-minded as the Netherlands and allow sanctioned and supervised places to purchase small quantities, it would SIGNIFICANTLY reduce the turf wars for the drug lords, as well as greatly reducing the degree of crimes committed by people trying to obtain their product. And you know what? It would give law enforcement time to actually work on making our country safer from terrorism and perhaps even give us the opportunity to help people with addictons to real drugs, such as meth, cocaine, heroine, crack, alcohol and tobacco. Notice I said "help", not "arrest".

The simple fact is........marijuana is only illegal because of graft, racial prejudice, and corruption by the government. Simply removing it from schedule 1 and putting it on the same level as hard alcohol and tobacco (both of which are FAR more dangerous than marijuana in any and every test ever done), we would see a huge drop in prison populations and street violence.

Sorry for the long post. Just an idle thought from a frustrated viewer of stupidity.

it is incredibly frustrating. Especially the fact that people who grow their own weed, which dosent involve any support of crime or illegal smuggling or terrorism(supposedly), still live in fear of being prosecuted.

Thank god i live in the UK, the worlds leading light in democracy, fairness and equal rights.

:cool:

smoke out the white house...sitr things up a little.

i saw on E!s most outragous celeb stories or osmehitng that willie nelson smoked a joint on top of the white house during some old presidents term...just a lil tid bit cuz u mentioned white house