(no subject)

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

I'll keep this short as I already had a longer post about drugs before.

A) Are you in favor of America continuing it's war on drugs?
B) What benefits do you believe exist because of this war on drugs?
C) Are those benefits really worth the cost?

My opinion:

No
Employment for law-enforcement/courts, and a few high paying jobs for black market drug sellers with lots of low paying-high risk jobs for people
No

Comments

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

heh, our answer to B is essentially the same

On any number of other issues we diverge, but on this we agree. How nice to see drugs bringing people together!

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

"Employment for street gangs."

It pay less than min. wage. I'm mad about that.

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

First we need to win our war against misused apostrophes.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

c'mon Lenny

Which matters more, my grammar, or the hundreds of thousands of people in prison for drugs?
Many of whom wouldn't be their if their skin was the same color as yours.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

wah wah wah.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

IMO the funniest piece of grammar fail has always been the its/it's confusion.

[reflaxion.livejournal.com]

A) No.
B) Less people using drugs because of increased difficulty of acquiring them.
C) No.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

Can you expand on B?

I mean, it might be harder to find drug X, but if you really want it, it usually just takes some time, but it can be found.

[usekh.livejournal.com]

I could get any drug I wanted with probably a few calls. And I don't even use them. The war on drugs is a joke, the only beneficiaries are organised crime, cops and the prison industry.

It is no accident some of the largest sponsors of politicians who want to get tough on drugs is the prison industry.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

A) Are you in favor of America continuing it's war on drugs?
No.

B) What benefits do you believe exist because of this war on drugs?
Other than what you mentioned, it keeps drug addition from reaching some segments of the population. But it makes addition worse for those who find their way around the barriers.


C) Are those benefits really worth the cost?
To many people in the suburban middle-class, yes. That's why it keeps going. To me? Not really.

[verytwistedmind.livejournal.com]

A) YES!
B) Better t.v. shows* , More cops WITH better armorment, Hookers, Drug Lords, Mexico, Rock stars, Urban children, Me (I once traded a 20 bag for 12 report on China and got an A.), Politicians, parents, the entire entertainment industry, sex workers, I think...pretty much the world.
C) Yes!

*Miami vice, Sons of anarachy, after school specials, 90201 (there was like 6 don't do drugs episodes) The wire, Weeds, the list goes on and on.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

...I really hope you were being funny and simply omitted a smiley face.

You are joking...right?

I seem to think you aren't cause, for whatever reason, my brain tells me that in other discussions of drugs you have been against them and thus this fits with you being against them....but your response to B is too absurd to be serious....right?

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

I really wonder about you some of the time...

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

Season six of Weeds is coming up, yes?

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

A) No. It's senseless, breaking the back of the prison system, and it simply creates more room for criminals to move, not less.

B) A nice boost for the law enforcement community.

C) No.

[sgiffy.livejournal.com]

A) No.
B) Depends on what you mean by the War on Drugs. Raids, fighting cartels, and other types of actions don't have much benefit at all. Education campaigns do. Even if we legalize drugs continuing to educate people(honestly) about their affects would be a good thing. Likewise getting people into treatment when they have addictions is also a good thing.

To some extent going after drugs has gotten people who commit other crimes. You might not be able to get the gang member on murder, but if you find some crack in his pocket you can put him away for that. Though that has to be balanced with the increased crime stemming from the war on drugs.

C) Regarding education and treatment yes. I think to some extent drugs should be treated like cigarettes in that while we keep them legal we encourage people to quit and don't allow them to be used in way that inconveniences others e.g. no crack in the park. In some ways though we should handle them like alcohol acknowledging that people can and do use them responsibly while at the same time offering treatment for those that can't.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

1) No.
2) None.
3) No.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

None? So you disagree with my assessment that the war on drugs creates jobs for law enforcement?

Certainly creating jobs for law enforcement isn't a sufficient reason to outlaw something, but are you suggesting that if we ended the war on drugs there'd be equal need for cops/prison guards as there is today?

The drug war is important because...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

The drug war serves other interests besides making cops and traffickers fat and happy. It also serves to demonstrate that there is a modicum of freedom in America. Despite the government's attempt to keep you from having fun, it continues to fail miserably. Sure, the cost of having fun is higher than it would be without the ban on Mother Nature's finest, but that makes the fun more intriguing.

Re: The drug war is important because...

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

right! they have to take away our freedoms to remind us that we have them!

Wait, this sounds like 1984 "war is peace" kind of talk.

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

You might be interested in this:
http://community.livejournal.com/talk_politics/359611.html

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

uhh, I remember putting that up, and the results, I think I even mentioned the results in the other post I recently put up

I am sorry if you dislike me continuing to beat on this drum.
But people remain in prison for this shit. And that's a grave injustice.

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

I essentially agree with you, but could I be allowed to deal with a drug dealer who might hook my grandchildren? I would be inclined to put a bullet in his head.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

A) you kill one dealer, the next day there will be two more taking his palce
B) if your grandkids want drugs, they'll find em
C) dealers don't necessarily "hook" their users, they merely supply/enable them

And....how do you plan on dealing with it if one of your grandchildren becomes an alcohol?
You gonna shot every liquor store clerk in the state?

[reality-hammer.livejournal.com]

Stores like repeat customers. If you have a bad experience you're less likely to come back.

I'd say something about dying and never coming back but we do sell tobacco. :P

[reality-hammer.livejournal.com]

A) No.

B) Cops get free toys via forfeiture

C) Not to anyone but the cops and the dealers who benefit from the high price of black market goods.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

You've invested a lot of passion into the drugs subject. I wonder why. ;-P

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

I'm passionate about social justice?
It's a clear case of the stupid making stupid rules and that angers me?

Or maybe I just find consciousness alteration fun, and the rectally rigid rules ruin my fun sometimes.

[or D: all of the above?]

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

I'm all in favor of the legalization and taxation of marijuana. If people wanna fry their brains, that's their problem, but our government might as well put some money back into the coffers. The drug laws that exist now are ridiculous because they're filling up our jails with petty criminals instead of rapists and murderers.