America's War on Drugs- History Channel

[booker20]

I don't know if any of you guys watched this 4-episode special, but do yourself a favor and check it out.

It is an amazing anthology of the US & the CIA's involvement in the drug trade over the last 50+ years.

 

[billanole]

The definition of the War on Drugs equals doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results... otherwise known as insanity. Remove the profit motive.

 

[booker20]

I was just in like 2nd/3rd grade when the Iran-Contra stuff was going down, but this discussed how it was all entangled w/ the drug trade in Columbia... Which is how the CIA paid for a great deal of their clandestine activity.

 

[nynole1]

I've heard people say the war on drugs is a waste. What do you think this coubwould look like fdrugs were legal? Serious question, not flaming.

 

[booker20]

I've heard people say the war on drugs is a waste. What do you think this coubwould look like fdrugs were legal? Serious question, not flaming.

I have no clue, but the series isn't really about that... It talks about how often the CIA has been in bed w/ cartels, used drugs as a currency, etc.

It's an amazing series.

 

[booker20]

Talks about how TWOD was used to control and divide populations... About how President's or at least the Veep knew what was going on... It's crazy.

 

[TC Nole OX]

Talks about how TWOD was used to control and divide populations... About how President's or at least the Veep knew what was going on... It's crazy.

One particular vp/president did a lot more than "know what was going on."

 

[seminole97]

I've heard people say the war on drugs is a waste. What do you think this coubwould look like fdrugs were legal? Serious question, not flaming.

"Portugal decriminalized the use of all drugs in 2001. Weed, cocaine, heroin, you name it -- Portugal decided to treat possession and use of small quantities of these drugs as a public health issue, not a criminal one. The drugs were still illegal, of course. But now getting caught with them meant a small fine and maybe a referral to a treatment program -- not jail time and a criminal record.

Whenever we debate similar measures in the U.S. -- marijuana decriminalization, for instance -- many drug-policy makers predict dire consequences. “If you make any attractive commodity available at lower cost, you will have more users," former Office of National Drug Control Policy deputy director Thomas McLellan once said of Portugal's policies. Joseph Califano, founder of the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, once warned that decriminalization would "increase illegal drug availability and use among our children."

But in Portugal, the numbers paint a different story. The prevalence of past-year and past-month drug use among young adults has fallen since 2001, according to statistics compiled by the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, which advocates on behalf of ending the war on drugs. Overall adult use is down slightly too. And new HIV cases among drug users are way down."

link

 

[billanole]

I've heard people say the war on drugs is a waste. What do you think this coubwould look like fdrugs were legal? Serious question, not flaming.

When the US instigated Prohibition on alcohol, it allowed organized crime to grow exponentially. They were able to provide a product at a profit that law enforcement could not prevent from happening. Eventually Prohibition was repealed, which is when our crazy, inconsistent alcohol rules began.
Similarly, law enforcement is unable to stop the delivery of illegal drugs, no matter the resources thrown at the effort.
In both cases, the money involved in delivery of these substances produces untold profits and casualties. Corruption is rampant, violence goes unchecked, families and society (even nations) are torn asunder.
Remove the profit. Give the shit away. Reduce the size of our crim/justice system. Close prisons. Build schools and playgrounds.
If the cartel cannot intice new users with the next new thing, (pot, coke, heroin, crack, meth, ecstasy, opioids copycats, etc...) and make a profit, I contend their influence will quickly wane.
If they are not trying to hook new users, the numbers of users will shrink. If it is available on this earth, there will always be users, but at a greatly reduced scale as per the Portuguese numbers.

 

[Fijimn]

"Portugal decriminalized the use of all drugs in 2001. Weed, cocaine, heroin, you name it -- Portugal decided to treat possession and use of small quantities of these drugs as a public health issue, not a criminal one. The drugs were still illegal, of course. But now getting caught with them meant a small fine and maybe a referral to a treatment program -- not jail time and a criminal record.

Whenever we debate similar measures in the U.S. -- marijuana decriminalization, for instance -- many drug-policy makers predict dire consequences. “If you make any attractive commodity available at lower cost, you will have more users," former Office of National Drug Control Policy deputy director Thomas McLellan once said of Portugal's policies. Joseph Califano, founder of the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, once warned that decriminalization would "increase illegal drug availability and use among our children."

But in Portugal, the numbers paint a different story. The prevalence of past-year and past-month drug use among young adults has fallen since 2001, according to statistics compiled by the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, which advocates on behalf of ending the war on drugs. Overall adult use is down slightly too. And new HIV cases among drug users are way down."

link

NPR did a report comparing the Portugal/Holland decriminalization with Colorado. It was interesting, because people always point to Europe in support of decriminalization. But, for the most part, the producers and manufacturers in Europe remains small "mom-and-pop" operations. Thus, the supply does increase substantially and price stays high (pun intended). Here, we have to Americanize everything, large grower operations have moved into Colorado, where there are warehouses of plants. Marijuana supply is rising and the price is dropping. Based on the marijuana industry, you could extrapolate that the same supply/price conditions for other "harder" drugs.

 

[booker20]

The series is so so much more than talking about drug use... Wish some of y'all would get the opportunity to see it.

 

[kelleynole#1]

I have it on my dvr and cannot wait to watch it. I am all for drug legalization as long as the people who choose to partake in drug use are allowed to crash and burn and my tax dollars are not used to help them.

 

[Fijimn]

The CIA's involvement with allowing cocaine to be funneled into urban centers was well documented by an investigative report by Gary Webb in the San Jose Mercury News. Read about what the government did to Gary Webb and his eventual demise.

 

[ReliableOstrich]

gonna give the show a watch. subject matter is very interesting to me.

hand in hand w/ the drug usage is mental health care. we're so awful with the latter that it's not surprising people wind up dependent on the former.

rather than a war on drugs, i'd wage a war on mental health - not locking folks up, but aggressively spending on health care, counselors, treatment, education, and retraining.

the drug problem in america is the result of government involvement in its spread and a failed strategy to police it rather than treat it.