The war on drugs has absolutely devastated the poorest areas of every major American city, with no real benefit. People still do drugs in the same proportions as they did prior to the war on drugs...but now they're killing each other at much higher rates. Over HALF of all violent crimes committed in the United States are drug-related. If drugs were legalized, this black market would not exist! Why in the world is recreational use of drugs illegal? No one is harmed except for the user!
And the drug user is more harmed by drugs being illegal. If drugs wern't so taboo many more people would feel comfortable getting help for their addictions. It would also clean up the industry. Remember those commercials a while back implying that if you smoked drugs you were helping terrorists murder families? Well if we produced all that stuff here instead of importing it in, then the drug lords would be out of business, and it would be a clean industry.
The reason for the war against drugs, are lobbys( like the cotton-mafia, against hemp), or the CIA. RIGHT!If it would get legal tomorrow,the illegal market would crack down, and the CIA would lose the biz, because everyone would make his own opium, shroomies or Marijuana. Probably the CIA would lose one of its biggest cash makers! As long it is illegal, the CIA can keep the prices up, because the legal stuff is much cheaper. Probably there would be no more coke to steal from the FBI's cellar if it's legal! If you get busted in some places, i think even in the US, they confiscate your Home, your money, ... and put you inna jail. That's big business, and these Warheads in the White House, or in the other countrys don't care about you!
And without the WoD, all those cops, judges, prosecutors, prison guards, etc. would have to stop sucking off the public, and get REAL JOBS. Corporate america would lose access to cheap, compliant prison labor, and the contracts to build all the prisons in the first place!
The drug war is a self perpetuating machine dealing in billions of dollars.From the sale of illegal drugs to inprisonment.All profit motivated.The big drug companies don't want marijuans legallized because more people would use it,thereby lowering the profit margin.Greed.Thats what it all boils down too. and the beat goes on..........
Finally me and Kandahar agree on something, after all his bashing of my conspiracies lol. Peace and Love, Dan
I'd like to see all the effort the cops put in the war on drugs go towards beating people who litter, because i give a damn if people litter but not if they smoke a joint. Seriously, we should just switch the punishments for both and we'd be better off as a society.
Eugene, since you are a cop (or a republican or both) you oughtta know dood! (He's posted to me before) Regarding the WOD, check out our site: http://www.hempfest.org
my good brother, I am director of Washington State NORML, and National NORML does not directly lobby congress, as it is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit... Only MPP does. NORML advocates in a variety of ways, but lacks the funding that MPP has. Peace, Vivian
Well, you never said anything about lobbying CONGRESS. On a related note, do you find that lobbying these twits actually accomplishes anything substantive? I mean, smokers have been taking it up the ass for years, regardless of whether the Reps or Dems are in charge. Until the MPP or similar groups have the clout of Big Pharma and Big Oil, do you really think that kissing the ass of elected officials is a good use of limited resources? I certainly haven't seen anything coming out of DC that helps the average potsmoker since Carter was in office.... Maybe working on state ballot initiatives and the like would get more results?
I am not sure who else you would lobby for effective policy reform. Lobbyists go to congress, the only people who can change the federal law. You make good points, but you should go to MPP.org and see the success they have had. They are behind almost every initiative that has passed on a state wide basis. Here in Washington, we legalized Medivcal Marijuana with I-692, then last year we passed historic Seattle I-75, making simple possession lowest police priority in city limits. So, we are facing an uphill battle, I concur, but it is not like we are not winning battles too. Thanks for being so passionate about this important issue. I have been a cannabis policy activist for 20 years now, and I am getting burned out, man. The Bush election was deflating, but we will win because this is a human rights issue, and we have already won in the court of popular opinion, IMHO. We vare bringing almost 200,000 people to our annual event here, that is a sign that something big is happening in the movement. We have had Woody Harrelson, Mark Stepnoski (Dallas Cowboy), and Rick Steves (INTL TV travel host and writer) speak among the 70+ speakers we have on our 6 stages. We got it goin on, the Goddess must be blessing us. We have been so lucky. As far as gaining the clout the pharmies have, well there is only one way to achieve that..begin. Everyone starts smaller and grows. Mpp is kicking ass compared to...well...nobody else is doing it at all. Take care bro, and do check out mpp's website. They are not the gods of the movement, but I still think they are the best place to put your support, other than NORML, of course, of which I belong. Peace and justice, in solidarity, Viv-
Unfortunately not every place in the country is as progressive as the West Coast...almost everywhere else in the country (even the other blue states), drug laws are oppressively tough. I don't remember the exact numbers, but I think a Gallup poll from last year found that over 70% of Americans favored keeping marijuana illegal (and presumably more for the harder drugs). I think we still have a ways to go when it comes to educating the public. Groups like NORML are great...but they're typically underfunded (I've never seen a NORML commercial on TV...ever). It'd be nice to convince more people with money (like George Soros has done) to launch a nationwide war on the war on drugs. I think that a few public service announcements by groups like NORML - perhaps to counter those awful Ignorance: The Anti-Drug ads - would do wonders to move public opinion. I still believe that most people have the erroneous idea that having criminal penalties for drug use makes the drugs go away.
I have heard NORML public service announcements on the radio, but only on community stations or the left-leaning "Air America" stations. One of them had Willie Nelson as the spokesperson! I really doubt that the major TV networks would take the ads, even if pro-pot groups had the money to run them. The major networks generally use a convenient claim about not running "advocacy advertising" whenever someone tries to air something like this, just like 2 major networks did with a recent ad from a church which expressed tolerance for gays and lesbians. There are also provisions in federal law that could subject stations to reduced federal money if they aired anything that was viewed by the feds as "promoting drug use". While the government won't OPENLY censor stations who might want to air this stuff, the threat of pulling all the money for running those ridiculous "Drug Free America" ads and other government propaganda ads serves to keep stations toeing the government line. The possibility of the FCC obstructing license renewals, etc. certainly helps, too.
IMHO,,,,I believe that if the supreme court decides in favor of states rights to med mj,there will be a steady turnaround on the easeing up on harsh marijuana laws everywhere.
