Live data from Hacker News

AT&T gives DEA 26 years of phone call records to wage war on drugs

arstechnica.com

71–80 of 211 posts

Re: AT&T gives DEA 26 years of phone call records to wage war on drugs

#71
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because caffeine is legal and therefore dirt cheap.

No, it's because as a stimulant it has a combination of relatively low addictive properties and is easy to withdraw from when compared to more "hardcore" substances [1] [1] http://www.drugsense.org/tfy/addictvn.htm

How about nicotine? Granted, there have probably been people who steal cigarettes are steal other things to buy cigarettes, but I think it's a much smaller problem than with illegal drugs.

Re: AT&T gives DEA 26 years of phone call records to wage war on drugs

#72
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you need to read-up on the prohibition and what making alcohol illegal did to our country.

It's a question of what does more harm than good. The vast majority of people who drink alcohol can still be sober at work. Whereas a crack addict will tend to be high all day, unable to work, thus needing to rob to feed their addiction.

You're making a big assumption: that the war on drugs, even if it cost no money and ruined no lives on its own, in any way lowers the number of people addicted to hard drugs and the amount of violence related to hard drugs. While I don't have any specific data, it seems pretty obvious to me that it only increases both.

Re: AT&T gives DEA 26 years of phone call records to wage war on drugs

#73
post #31
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and for there to be a war on drugs in the first place. Eliminate the fundamentals, and there should be no issues at all, really.

I have a problem with a war on marijuana, or violating the Constitution during the war on drugs. But otherwise I don't have a problem with a war on meth or crack or other drugs that increase the odds that I'll be a victim of violent crime or robbery. (I'd punish simple users with rehab rather than prison.)

Would you be okay with a war on drugs funded only by the people who, like yourself, desire a war on drugs?

Re: AT&T gives DEA 26 years of phone call records to wage war on drugs

#74
post #70
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If crack was dirt cheap, people would still rob to get the money for it, because they couldn't hold down a decent job while using it.

People hold down professional, successful, white-collar careers for YEARS while doing cocaine. If it was legal why would anyone do crack?

If it was legal, it would probably be vastly safer to acquire and use recreationally, so even if the amount of use stayed the same, the actual negative effects would probably decrease.

Re: AT&T gives DEA 26 years of phone call records to wage war on drugs

#75
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coffee addictions don't lead to more violent crime or robbery, as far as I know. Does making meth and crack legal make less crime (violent or robbery) than if their usage was nil? I highly doubt it.

The same questions were once asked about alcohol. Did you get your answers then?

Apples to oranges, since unlike meth and crack users, the vast majority of those who drink alcohol can hold down a job to pay for it, instead of resort to theft or worse.

Re: AT&T gives DEA 26 years of phone call records to wage war on drugs

#76
post #63
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a problem with a war on marijuana, or violating the Constitution during the war on drugs. But otherwise I don't have a problem with a war on meth or crack or other drugs that increase the odds that I'll be a victim of violent crime or robbery. (I'd punish simple users with rehab rather than prison.)

>But otherwise I don't have a problem with a war on meth or crack or other drugs that increase the odds that I'll be a victim of violent crime or robbery. Why do you assume this? Do you think people so inclined have any trouble getting "meth or crack or other drugs"? Prohibition only raises the price, and I could make the argument that just means addicts have to rob people more often before they start having medical…

Prohibition does more than just raise price. It also increases the incentive for dealers to get people addicted to drugs. It also immediately makes anyone involved a criminal, so there can be little conflict resolution outside of direct violence. It also prevents enterprises which desire to stay legal from getting involved in the production and distribution of drugs, which leads to more dangerous (and probably less enjoyable) drugs.

Re: AT&T gives DEA 26 years of phone call records to wage war on drugs

#77
post #59

I think a total boycott of ATT would be a good start, since it appears ATT actually was out in front of Verizon and T-Mobile and Sprint on this. I'd probably trust T-Mobile and Sprint more than either ATT or Sprint based on corporate history, too. Still totally untrustworthy, but there probably is a difference. It's getting to the point where a good alternative to how cellphones work might be worthwhile, to keep loca…

Good luck. How do you boycott a backbone network provider thatmay ultimately service your chosen ISP anyway?

Sure, you harm their consumer and residential retail operations, but that won't cripple their business to business operations, which is where all the real money is anyway.

Re: AT&T gives DEA 26 years of phone call records to wage war on drugs

#78
post #69
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coffee addictions don't lead to more violent crime or robbery, as far as I know. Does making meth and crack legal make less crime (violent or robbery) than if their usage was nil? I highly doubt it.

I really can't imagine violence going up if drug prohibition was ended, even if you don't count the violence committed by public officers enforcing drug laws.

I can imagine that, because a crack or meth user can't hold down a decent job. Whether legal or not they'd tend to have to rob to get the money to stay high. And when legal it's likely more people would get addicted.

Re: AT&T gives DEA 26 years of phone call records to wage war on drugs

#79
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you need to read-up on the prohibition and what making alcohol illegal did to our country.

It's a question of what does more harm than good. The vast majority of people who drink alcohol can still be sober at work. Whereas a crack addict will tend to be high all day, unable to work, thus needing to rob to feed their addiction.

You're also conflating all levels of alcohol usage with crack addiction. It's possible for many people (though granted, probably nearly genetically impossible for some people) to use either without becoming addicted. And for alcoholics, it's often very hard to hold down a job.

Re: AT&T gives DEA 26 years of phone call records to wage war on drugs

#80
post #65
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No dude, all we have to do is be nice to everybody, increase our foreign aid even further, and establish Shariah law within the U.S. Oh, and somehow ignore the First Amendment and ban American citizens from insulting certainly notable religious figures. Then they will surely leave us alone.

I'm not sure why my answer merited either a down vote or a sarcastic response, but I regardless, you can work to minimize terrorism without destroying our rights and liberties. I'm not sure where you're drawing the false dichotomy from.

You were probably downvoted because a "War on Terror" is not necessary to minimize terrorism. Nor, as you point out, does minimizing necessitate destroying our rights and liberties.

"The War on..." is a phrase that signals to us that we should be on the lookout for crude solutions that do more harm than good. It is a crude phrase that perfectly embodies the simplistic attitude that inevitably backs whatever program the phrase is being used to describe.

Wherever there is a "War on..." there is almost certainly something that we could be doing smarter, rather than harder.

Post reply on HN