Global leaders call for a major shift to decriminalize drugs

[disneyboy20022]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookou ... lize-drugs


They say the War on Drugs isn't working.....what a surprise

[Flanger-Hanger]

I'm suprised to see support for legalizing marijuana at 41% in the US, thought it would be much less. Could prove interesting a few years from now.

[Disney's Divinity]

^ That number makes me happy actually. I don't agree with drug use in general, but there's no point in treating it as a punishable crime. I would be glad to see less people going to jail for marijuana use, and more medical patients able to rely on the drug when it can help.

[PatrickvD]

Trust me, once it's legal, no one will want it.

Right now, it's like a forbidden fruit. People want it because the government tells them they can't have it.

I laugh at the tourists coming in and out of Amsterdam every day for drugs. It's particularly hilarious when they ask me where I buy my drugs. Seriously, as if everyone here does drugs because it's legal. Sure man, we're all stoned all day long. That's how we got smart enough to legalize that crap and make money off of British and American tourists instead of smoking it ourselves.

Bunch a dumbasses.

[Goliath]

^ That number makes me happy actually. I don't agree with drug use in general, but there's no point in treating it as a punishable crime. I would be glad to see less people going to jail for marijuana use, and more medical patients able to rely on the drug when it can help.

And here's the crux of the problem: American prisons in the hand of private companies: jailing as a lucrative business. They need more prisoners to keep making profits. Judges are elected in the US. They need money for campaigning. Prisons provide it; judges dish out harsh sentences against possession of maruijana. The 'drug war' on the border of the US and Mexico is lucrative for the CIA. They don't want their money cutt off and jobs terminated; and they run a nice drug-trafficking on the side. The governments of the US and Mexico have already denounced the results of the study.

The study names all the benefits I've summed up on this forum. It's really not a hard, complex issue. The study names The Netherlands as a positive example. But, The Netherlands is extremely complicated when it comes to 'soft drugs': you're allowed to possess them, use them and sell them, but *not* to produce them. That gets you arrested.

[Super Aurora]

^ That number makes me happy actually. I don't agree with drug use in general, but there's no point in treating it as a punishable crime. I would be glad to see less people going to jail for marijuana use, and more medical patients able to rely on the drug when it can help.

And here's the crux of the problem: American prisons in the hand of private companies: jailing as a lucrative business. They need more prisoners to keep making profits. Judges are elected in the US. They need money for campaigning. Prisons provide it; judges dish out harsh sentences against possession of maruijana. The 'drug war' on the border of the US and Mexico is lucrative for the CIA. They don't want their money cutt off and jobs terminated; and they run a nice drug-trafficking on the side. The governments of the US and Mexico have already denounced the results of the study.

This is most definitely true. Drug people are easier for police to find and capture thus filling the prison up as oppose to say pedophile, murders, etc.

[Goliath]

This is most definitely true. Drug people are easier for police to find and capture thus filling the prison up as oppose to say pedophile, murders, etc.

What about the banksters who demolished our financial system? The only ones in jail are Bernie Maddoff and Dominique Strauss-Kahn (and the latter 'only' on sexual assault charges). They stole billions and got away with it.

[Goliath]

For those who are interested: this subject was talked about on this week's episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. It was on the 'Overtime'-segment, which is available here:

http://realtimewithbillmaher.blogspot.com/

The woman on the panel (writer for 'The Nation' magazine) really had some great things to say about it.

[jpanimation]

At Least 40 Killed in Mexico in 24 Hours
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 16306.html

Fucking drug war. No amount of accidental overdosing or recklessness while under the inference can ever take as many live as this ridiculous war has. It wastes our money, it wastes our protective services (cops, courts, prisons), it violates our freedom and it endangers the lives of many living on the border. Everyone has admited it's a failure, so the question is, why are we continuing this war?

PS: New Breaking Bad this Sunday

[Goliath]

[...] Everyone has admited it's a failure, so the question is, why are we continuing this war?

This was talked about (again) on last week's Real Time with Bill Maher. Some guest made the point that resistance to legalize marijana comes from private prison facilities and the prison guards unions, and they seem to have a big influence in Washington. It's simple: jailing people is big business in the US. Your country has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Most of your inmates are in prison because of drug-related offenses. Money talks, especially in Washington. Bill Maher told his guests: as soon as the camera's are off, politicians admit pot should be legalized. They just won't say it on-record. And he raised an interesting point: it would be hard for any president to do it, but what do you think would happen when a *black* president proposed legalizing marijana?