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After 50 years of the war on drugs, 'what good is it doing for us?'

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Re: After 50 years of the war on drugs, 'what good is it doing for us?'

#61

Post by jkestner »

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #31

The simple slogan of "defund the police" in fact leads to vociferous disagreement among individual activists and organizations about what that means, i.e. whether simply refusing the police military hardware and funding levels, or ending the existence of police outright and replacing them with an unarmed, locally organized neighborhood patrol. "The war on drugs has been a failure and should end" seems like a similar…

Perhaps the point is to move the Overton Window, so that a compromise can settle to the left of empty gesture, for a change.

Re: After 50 years of the war on drugs, 'what good is it doing for us?'

#62

Post by banannaise »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #16
a2tech wrote: post #2

Its still doing the most important things--lining the pockets of some, criminalizing large groups of people that the government wants to marginalize, and acting as a cornerstone of restrictive laws that are imposed upon the citizenry.

> large groups of people that the government wants to marginalize Who does the government want to marginalize? I thought the government (and the rest of the world, really) was all about equality and inclusion as of late.

> I thought the government (and the rest of the world, really) was all about equality and inclusion as of late.

They're certainly all about talking about it. They don't really take a lot of actions to back it up.

Re: After 50 years of the war on drugs, 'what good is it doing for us?'

#63

Post by mathattack »

ElViajero wrote: post #42
bgroins wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reasoning is well established at this point. It was started by the Nixon administration to reduce the amount of left and left-leaning voters, particularly black Americans. "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the…

> It was started by the Nixon administration to reduce the amount of left and left-leaning voters, particularly black Americans. That is interesting information, thank you for commenting. It shows that there was not a misinterpretation, as the article suggests, at least, not the initiators of the "War", but more of a well-calculated hidden agenda that had nothing to do with "drugs".

Perhaps some instigators had ulterior motives, but many who jumped on were part of the grand miscalculation. Though perhaps they should have looked at Prohibition for guidance too.

Re: After 50 years of the war on drugs, 'what good is it doing for us?'

#64

Post by systemvoltage »

It would be suicidal to challenge marijuana, since it is going against the current mob mentality on HN and elsewhere, but I am going to do just that. In my personal experience:

- I think Marijuana should be legalized but it needs to be made uncool to consume just like Tobacco. Currently, it is the opposite. Social media loves weed.

- Marijuana destroys personal ambition, productivity and self-esteem.

- Marijuana is addicting even though people say its not. It is much easier to quit than Tobacco, but denying that its not addicting is not true in my experience.

- Marijuana is a nuisance on streets, apartments, etc. It has such a potent smell, it is impossible to get rid of. I would say it has 100x power of smell than perfumes, probably even more. You can smell Marijuana in your car if someone on the road is smoking it.

- Lung damage, it's undeniable.

- Marijuana is a gateway drug, I strongly believe this but open for changing my mind if there is data supporting otherwise.

It's time we make Marijuana uncool. Sure, we should stop incarcerating people for possession but I strongly oppose the current Marijuana culture. It's toxic to the society. I welcome counterpoints and discussion, just being honest about how I see the Marijuana culture. I've been there and done that for 2 years straight in college. Roommate was a weed dealer.

Re: After 50 years of the war on drugs, 'what good is it doing for us?'

#65

Post by spamizbad »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #9

This is one of those weird things about American Democracy where everyone I speak to thinks the Drug War was a terrible thing and should be stopped. And yet, our politicians never substantially do anything to change the status quo.

The median American voter is a 50 year old suburban home owner (and the median midterm voter is even older and wealthier). These people still support the war on drugs, although probably not at the same levels as before.

Re: After 50 years of the war on drugs, 'what good is it doing for us?'

#66

Post by lettergram »

If you look at violent crime over the last 50 years it has steadily decreased. I think it’s reasonable to see a correlation.

It’s possible decriminalizing could lead to a huge wave in crimes as people try to pay for their fix.

That being said, I’m pro-liberty. I feel all drugs should be accessible

Re: After 50 years of the war on drugs, 'what good is it doing for us?'

#67

Post by chrischen »

alamortsubite wrote: post #41

I feel like Ehrlichman admitting the war on drugs was just a pretext for marginalizing Blacks and progressives should have been the end of it. But no, and that's already 25 years ago: In a 1994 interview published in Harper's Magazine, Nixon adviser John Ehrlichman suggested racial animus was among the motives shaping the drug war. "We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the [Vietnam] War or Black,"…

I think the obvious answer often overlooked is that a lot of people are simply still totally fine marginalizing Blacks, Latinos, progressives, and other minorities.

Re: After 50 years of the war on drugs, 'what good is it doing for us?'

#68

Post by tolbish »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #57
uberdru wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My read is that your statement is incorrect, in that they were not simply 'acting like racists'. Instead, they were instituting racially motivated policies to combat the advances of the civil rights movement through the '60s. Plus ca change.

Isn't that exactly how you'd expect racists to act?

The difference is that racism is not a secondary motivator. Racism would be baked into the desire for power, as it would then be a desire to instill white supremacy.

Re: After 50 years of the war on drugs, 'what good is it doing for us?'

#69

Post by nextstep »

The War on Drugs is a powerful tool the US uses across the globe to pressure unfriendly nations and to keep tons of cash off the Pentagon’s official books. No reform of American drug policy will be possible as long as the CIA and other agencies actively benefits from drug trafficking.

Re: After 50 years of the war on drugs, 'what good is it doing for us?'

#70

Post by [deleted] »

bgroins wrote: post #19
ElViajero wrote: post #8

> "The war on drugs was an absolute miscalculation of human behavior," said Kassandra Frederique, who heads the Drug Policy Alliance, a national group that advocates for total drug decriminalization. For me it would be incredibly interesting to know how much it was a miscalculation or actually it was very well calculated. The "War on Drugs" have failed to make USA safer, healthier or any other positive metric. But, i…

The reasoning is well established at this point. It was started by the Nixon administration to reduce the amount of left and left-leaning voters, particularly black Americans. "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the…

[deleted]
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