DRUG PLAN: Portugal decriminalized the use and possession of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other illicit street drugs in an attempt to cut down on related deaths and infections
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In the face of a growing number of deaths and cases of HIV linked to drug abuse, the Portuguese government in 2001 tried a new tack to get a handle on the problem—it decriminalized the use and possession of heroin, cocaine, marijuana, LSD and other illicit street drugs. The theory: focusing on treatment and prevention instead of jailing users would decrease the number of deaths and infections.
Five years later, the number of deaths from street drug overdoses dropped from around 400 to 290 annually, and the number of new HIV cases caused by using dirty needles to inject heroin, cocaine and other illegal substances plummeted from nearly 1,400 in 2000 to about 400 in 2006, according to a report released recently by the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C, libertarian think tank.
"Now instead of being put into prison, addicts are going to treatment centers and they're learning how to control their drug usage or getting off drugs entirely," report author Glenn Greenwald, a former New York State constitutional litigator, said during a press briefing at Cato last week.
Under the Portuguese plan, penalties for people caught dealing and trafficking drugs are unchanged; dealers are still jailed and subjected to fines depending on the crime. But people caught using or possessing small amounts—defined as the amount needed for 10 days of personal use—are brought before what's known as a "Dissuasion Commission," an administrative body created by the 2001 law.
Each three-person commission includes at least one lawyer or judge and one health care or social services worker. The panel has the option of recommending treatment, a small fine, or no sanction.
Peter Reuter, a criminologist at the University of Maryland, College Park, says he's skeptical decriminalization was the sole reason drug use slid in Portugal, noting that another factor, especially among teens, was a global decline in marijuana use. By the same token, he notes that critics were wrong in their warnings that decriminalizing drugs would make Lisbon a drug mecca.
"Drug decriminalization did reach its primary goal in Portugal," of reducing the health consequences of drug use, he says, "and did not lead to Lisbon becoming a drug tourist destination."
Walter Kemp, a spokesperson for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, says decriminalization in Portugal "appears to be working." He adds that his office is putting more emphasis on improving health outcomes, such as reducing needle-borne infections, but that it does not explicitly support decriminalization, "because it smacks of legalization."
Drug legalization removes all criminal penalties for producing, selling and using drugs; no country has tried it. In contrast, decriminalization, as practiced in Portugal, eliminates jail time for drug users but maintains criminal penalties for dealers. Spain and Italy have also decriminalized personal use of drugs and Mexico's president has proposed doing the same. .
A spokesperson for the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy declined to comment, citing the pending Senate confirmation of the office's new director, former Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs also declined to comment on the report.
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108 Comments
Add CommentIllicit drug use should be treated as a medical issue rather than a criminal issue. The criminalizing of substance abuse has no rational ethical basis but the same has very unnecessary destructive medical, social, economic, and psychological affects on the substance abuser and society as a whole.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI commend and thank the governments of Portugal, Spain, and Italy for taking this very humane, ethical, and pragmatic approach to substance abuse.
Intelligent policy regarding drugs is an impossibility in the US. That's because the hacks in the DEA, the prison guard's unions, the police, along with politicians of both parties (but mostly Republicans) who use the Drug War as a means of safeguarding their jobs by whipping up anti drug hysteria, have too much invested in the arrest and incarceration of millions of non violent drug users to ever consider a possible solution to what is both a cash cow and a pork machine that keeps on raining what must seem like manna from Heaven to them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisdolmance: while i tend to agree with the majority of your statement; when you actually read the proposed legislation to eliminate or soften drug laws, it comes from republicans more often than not. this is because small government, and hence small prison administration, is a cornerstone of conservatism. from fighting the original criminalization of marijuana (laguardia) to bringing some reason to cocaine laws (pataki) it is inevitably republicans fighting this particular fight... despite overwhelming public perception to the opposite. who would have thought the masses could be uninformed?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMost of the hardcore super punitive drug laws were put in place by Republicans. However, Democrats are guilty too. They just don't play that tough on crime routine as much as the opposition. And I know the repeal of the Rockefeller drug laws in New York was an impossibility until the Democrats took over the majority in the state senate.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnyway, I don't care who did it or who fixes it, as long as it's fixed. The Constitution says we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We shouldn't even be having this conversation - this is about people having the right to put whatever they want into their bodies. It's nobody's business but there own.
Enter Your Comment Here.This new angle on how to deal with abusers will be interesting to watch there may be a lot to learn from it. As far as Peter Reuter of the University of Maryland, College Park skepticism, I understand where he is coming from but how do you put a statistic on a culture that exist in the shadows? Yes my question takes the from of a dual edged sword however where do we take our start to wrestle this great beast? This Portuguese perspective could be the turn that we are looking for. How much money is poured into the current system that abounds with repeat offenders that get little if any help? How many more people will arise from the shadows of drug abuse that know they will be met with help and not jail time? How many ounces of prevention can emerge from this point of view?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEnter Your Comment Here.This new angle on how to deal with abusers will be interesting to watch there may be a lot to learn from it. As far as Peter Reuter of the University of Maryland, College Park skepticism, I understand where he is coming from but how do you put a statistic on a culture that exist in the shadows? Yes my question takes the from of a dual edged sword however where do we take our start to wrestle this great beast? This Portuguese perspective could be the turn that we are looking for. How much money is poured into the current system that abounds with repeat offenders that get little if any help? How many more people will arise from the shadows of drug abuse that know they will be met with help and not jail time? How many ounces of prevention can emerge from this point of view?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe current "war on drugs" cost $40 bn a year in the United States alone. That is a lot of vested interests in the current regime. There is a horrible symbiosis between the drug dealers and the enforcement establishment.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisActually, America legalized drug use in 1933. The drug was alcohol, and the 21st amendment legalized its production, distribution and sale. Both alcohol consumption and violent crime dropped immediately as a result.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI don't do drugs, and I've certainly seem them mess up the lives of a lot of people I know, including family members, but then again, alcohol can do that all by itself.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis amazing unwillingness to even look at alternatives to our current "war on drugs" policies is ridiculous. When Obama (who I like) was asked the question on legalizing pot, he made a joke and sidestepped it.
It seems to me that not even considering an alternative can never lead to good policy. If you dismiss an idea that has clear possibilities without even giving it serious thought, you are displaying a strong bias that can only lead to bad decisions. Our government needs to get over its knee jerk reaction to drug policy and actually use a little open minded, rational, and fact based approach.
What ever happened to experimentation with policy? Take a few problem areas, try different approaches, evaluate them, and move forward with the best ideas? Instead, we just say "no" to drugs, and make that (and a whole lot of tossing people in jail) our policy? Just crazy.
We can't even keep drugs out of prison....How in the hell can we keep them off the streets?The war on drugs kills more people and ruins more lives than the drugs do.This is an idiotic policy. This country would save hundreds of billions of dollars if we would end this stupid war on drugs. We could tax the drugs if leagle,our prison population would be cut in half and those people would most likely have jobs,be taxed and spend money that would help our economy. When are we gonna have a main stream politician with enough guts to say this......I voted for Obama and I like him but he wussed out on this one...I thought he was going to listen to the science on his policies?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI totally agree with you Todd. People automatically assume that if certain drugs are legalized, only bad things will happen. What they don't realize is that legalization would take the money and power out of the hands of the bad people selling and distributing the drugs. It would also break connections between buyers and dealers. If marijuana were only sold in stores, users wouldn't have a connection to someone with access to much harsher drugs - thus greatly reducing the chance of them using the harsher drugs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this" It seems to me that not even considering an alternative can never lead to good policy. If you dismiss an idea that has clear possibilities without even giving it serious thought, you are displaying a strong bias that can only lead to bad decisions. "
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTouche', Tharris... It seems modern culture promote thinking with emotions ( all emotions are deffinitive of thier representation, and thus biased) instead of logic, and the above quote is the end result. It's good to see other people using logic these days...
As far as the main topic, there is tremendous evidence from recent history proving that legalization of things like marijuana destroy the illegal trafficking of those drugs and most all crime associated with it. I live 25 minutes outside of Nuevos Laredos, Mexico ( the other half of Laredo, Texas) where the largest power stuggle between drug lords since Escobar is unfolding. It is a war between the Los Zetas and the Leyva cartel against the Sinaloa cartel. By war I mean a full gorrilla war. Police on both sides of the border are killed seemingly routinely (including several police chiefs) and sometimes you can hear automatic weapons fire from laredo. My point is this, the majority of the cartels funding comes from marijuana and cocaine, having the largest user base. They use the profit to expand thier power (Fight for control) by buying guns from international suppliers who can meet their supply demands (contrary to common thought that all thier guns are US made) If we were to adopt the portugese decriminalization, then thier cash flow and thus resources to fight will dry up in a few years.
Kevino819 made an excelent point on breaking the dealer/ user connection. thats been proven in places where they legalized hash bars (marijuana shops).
Typo correction: I live 1 hour 25 minutes outside of nuevos laredo
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"when you actually read the proposed legislation to eliminate or soften drug laws, it comes from republicans more often than not"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOkay, then...citation, please. That's a hell of a reversal of reality you're trying to put out there without any backing.
I simply don't believe that Republicans have ever tried to introduce "legislation to eliminate or soften drug laws". I doubt if anyone does.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you want your statement to have any credibility, you should support it with some quotes or citations.
I simply don't believe that Republicans have ever tried to introduce "legislation to eliminate or soften drug laws". I doubt if anyone does.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you want your statement to have any credibility, you should support it with some quotes or citations.
"when you actually read the proposed legislation to eliminate or soften drug laws, it comes from republicans more often than not"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPlease excuse me while I laugh. Hysterically.
In the past, the majority of members within the Republican party still take a very *clear* anti-drug stance, combating any progress - vote after vote. Much of the legislation championed during the 80's and 90's -- which ultimately brought us to this point -- imposed strict punishment and an unwillingness to fund programs that encourage treatment as opposed to jail time. The war on drugs has been championed by republicans as early as Nixon's presidency, which gave way for legislation such as the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, which pushed for inflexible punishments for narcotic-users. We could also examine George Bush -- the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 is a fine work, indeed. Bush appointed William J. Bennett (conservative, of course) to run that affair, and it certainly went well, did it not?
Even mainstream democrats such as Bill Clinton have openly advocated treatment as opposed to harsh penalties. What was the republican response when Clinton took his stance? The speaker of the house, Republican Newt Gingrich, spoke out against Clinton's policies of treatment.
The recent Bush administration followed much as expected, with the same old politics -- viewing the drug abuser as nothing more than a criminal to be caged and shut away from the rest of society.
We have yet to see what the Obama administration will do about this issue, and I have faith that common sense will prevail.
BUT PLEASE, PLEASE REMEMBER ---- the Republicans that I mention are the Republicans of the PAST. I have faith that both Democrats and Republicans alike will come together to examine the issue both logically AND morally... the term "criminal" is entirely subjective, but the term "human being" is NOT.
It is clear that as we enter these very turbulent times, every American -- conservative or liberal -- is reevaluating their stance. I can only hope that this will continue, and that policy experimentation will begin. The only way we can discover what works and what doesn't is to stop talking, and start taking action.
The day they ended prohibition was the saddest day in Al Capone's life.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere's a great book " Ain't Nobodies Business If You Do" by Peter Mcwilliams that lays out this argument for legalizing drugs so well and straight foward that I'd dare say anyone could make a credible case against it. It's only about $10 and it's a quick and fun read.
George Washington(yeah the guy that was the father of our country) wrote in his journal to seperate the male and female hemp plant....now there's only one reason to do this and it ain't to make a better thread.
The WAR ON DRUGS does accomplish one thing........it erodes our civil liberties...which is it's real goal.
Now It is true that a real republican, Ron Paul might be the only one and we,ve probably not had a real one since Lincoln,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBob Bar went to the Libertarian Party who's platform includes legalizing drugs. A true republican would/should agree with legalization. Someone said that Clinton supported treatment over incarceration....and he is the best republican president we've had in a long time.
stress the people out sacrifice them and their children as we cannot afford sensitive people in a brutal culture of little love - let phara sell us drugs we cant afford for more corrupt people to live off the back of pain abuse and lies - love is the answr - and certainly allowing herb would help - and other drugs must not be faught - this will not help - we are a racist age burys the truth of anthropology in the saands of time
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf the USA had any guts, it would not only do this, it would give the drugs away free. The money this would cost would be peanuts compared to the cost of drug-related crimes today: murders, robberies, muggings, burglaries, theft, kidnappings, etc. (plus all the insurance claims connected). Users would of course have to register for treatment. Less than 24 hours after implementing this, the world of the drug lords would totally collapse, because it is not possible to sell something that has no street value.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAh, another sane person in an insane world. Read what I just said. "Koltrast"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would say you don't have to give it away let it become an industry like the winerys(sp?)The violence and crime will melt away like butter when drugs are legalized. As an industry it would make the US money. If we give it away it cost the US money, although a lot less money than the "WAR ON DRUGS" cost us.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI doubt they'll ever legalize drugs as it would lead to loss of profits by the drug cartels. You don't want to mess with those guys. They are corrupting law enforcement here and abroad and paying off politicians so that they can stay in business.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am not an American and I do not know what issues exactly are being addressed in this debate.I do know though that the drugs which are illegal in the US are also illegal in my country [South Africa]
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe question we should be asking is what problems do in fact arise when people take drugs [a practical approach rather than a moral one]Take alcohol for example : Driving while under the influence causes accidents , hence it is illegal to drive under the influence. Alcohol dependence is seen as a medical/psychological problem. Only adults are allowed to consume alcohol and it is illegal for adults to force or influence the young to consume alcohol.
Of course, dependance on heroin for example is not the same as dependence on alcohol. Nonetheless , is it not possible to deal with the "drug problem" in a rational and practical way [like the alcohol problem]. Why does the "drug problem" have a moral connotation while the alcohol problem has a purely practical connotation?
Firstly, alcohol constitutes the most severe drug usage in this country and the number of people who are alcoholics is increasing daily especially among high school and college students with the current trend being females trying to out do males. Secondly, drug abuse irrespective of the type, has severe societal costs, in the number of accidents, crime, family problems, work problems and not to mention health problems. We need to change our policies, the Netherlands were the first to try decriminalization, followed by Great Britain and now Portugal has also had some success. We need to come up with a strategy ourselves after weighing the pros and cons of the strengths and weaknesses of these countries attempts to decrease the number of drug addicts. I believe that drug users should be considered as people with health issues and not criminals, let's face it the "War on Drugs" have only increased the number of prisoners as there are more persons in prison for drugs than there are persons for more serious crimes e.g. murder. Drug users need to be rehabilitated not locked up for years then sent back out into the streets to continue the cycle.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAmerican drug policy is very much like American policy on sexuality and fertility: it only uses the susposed topic as smoke and mirrors to get to the real issue, which is control and economics. Between the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 which almost criminalized caffeine and the Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914, which did change three hundred years of American experience with opiates, the State gave itself the power to tell people what they could put into their bodies. In so doing, it laid the foundation for the multi-billion dollar prison industry of today which generations vast numbers of contracts between corporations and the State and employs vast number of semi-skilled workers. It also keeps vast numbers of people--often of the same class and educational background as those incarcerating them but different ethnicity--locked up and thus from competing for jobs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis cannot be changed. To do so, from an economic aspect, would be to demand an enormous restructuring of our basic systems of law enforcement, medicine and the relationship between corporations and the State. On a cultural level, it would require an honest assessment of both history (opiates have been used since the Neolithic and in all of the surviving Graeco-Roman literature, we have only two individuals who are noted as having a problem; one case is probably a literary conceit), and morality (pleasure is antithetical to the Abrahamic tradition). The evidence of science would have to be used for public policy, and the US has seldom done well with science, preferring "sentiment" and morality over what is now accepted as the medical paradigm of drug abuse.
The US requires STDs and teenage pregnancy to grease the wheels of divine punishment and original sin. Thus abstinence programs will continue to be funded despite the overwhelming evidence that they are a waste of money, e.g., the Palin family. And thus while western Europe provides government policies which prevent both, the US (stabe by state) provides policies which encourage them.
And thus for the lifetime of everyone reading this, the government must continue it's policies regarding "drugs" with lip service to alcohol and tobacco which at the same time, it provides support via tax breaks to the industries which create and peddle these substances. The only change in policy I can see is if the states and fed goes bankrupt and simply can't support the elaborate superstructure which has grown from 1906 and 1914. In that scenario, a rational policy might be adapted.
What has been done in Portugal, Spain, and Italy with respect to legalization of drug use is correct. It is absolutely necessary to change the way we are dealing with drug abuse. It is important to put all these matters into the open. Of course production and dealing with drugs should be under strict scrutiny of both society and government. It is criminal to poison the land where plants used in production of drugs are found. These plants are valuable but we should use them with extreme care and under close surveillance of responsible people. Also the sad truth is that legalization or not legalization of drug use should be irrelevant. People should not abuse or not use at all these drugs even when they are easily available and perfectly legal to use. One interesting thing to ponder anyway is that people in the lower brackets of society, and very probably this is true in the U.S. and Mexico, seem to live in a different world. They seem to live and enjoy life on a daily basis with not much regard about improving the future. They do no value their lives too much and they do not seem to care much to what happens to other people. They want to feel better and to look better in front of eyes of other people. If that means to take drugs, they take drugs not matter what. But this may also happen in all brackets of society. It seems very clear that many powerful people in Mexico and probably also in the U.S. profit from chaos and they do not want to make changes. They want an impoverish population they can use as slaves. And they want these slaves to abuse drugs. Of course I am speaking in a very general way. It is both responsibility both society and government to try to solve the problem of drug abuse if such a solution exists. Congratulations to Portugal, Italy, and Spain that are moving onto the right direction. Congratulations to the President of Mexico that is proposing the legalization of drug use.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTHE SHORTEST PATH TO WORLD PROSPERITY IS WORLD PEACE.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTOBACCO IS A PEACE OF WORLD PEACE-
WHAT ABOUT DRUGS?
I distrust the agenda of the reports source, number one. The libertarian think tank wants drugs legalized and/or decriminalized here in the US, and Im betting they didnt look too hard at the number of new addicts this created (it simply says that addicts go to treatment centers) nor what other negative effects this had.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNote that this was not legalization. Dealer are still fined and imprisoned, and anyone caught with more than the govt approved amount of drugs are hauled before an unelected commission that can impose fines or jail sentences. Not very libertarian is it? Im also not sure such a system - which can let someone off without any punishment at all - isnt wide open to bribery and corruption.
I think outright legalization, or even decriminalization, of hard drugs is a mistake. It says something about a society when it says some highly addictive substances should not be on the market. And societies have a right to make those decisions about legality at the ballot box and I would hope those decisions would be based on hard science, not emotion and hearsay.
Ill also say the attitude of Portuguese and those of Americans towards many issues are not always equally comparable, on drugs or many other issues. So the report's value is questionable.
Ask any high school student, it's easier to get cocaine than it is to get cigarettes or alcohol! If All drugs were legal, regulated, and taxed they could be sold be reputable establishments with age requirements. Organized crime requires the production and sale of illicit materials to thrive. If there is no such thing as an illegal drug, organized crime will have to find something else to make their money off of.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhen it comes right down to it, I don't like the idea of the government telling me what I can and cannot do with/to my own body. It's my choice what I take into myself. It is society's prerogative to encourage me to do what they believe is right. It is not the government's place to place mandates on how exactly I can persue my personal happiness. Granted, I wouldn't do these drugs if they were legal, I just don't think the government should have the right to tell me I can't do them.
Make them all legal, tax them based on how dangerous/addictive they are, use the money to help those who are addicted and to help pay off the national debt, then help pay for education. If you want to discourage the use of something, simply make it prohibitively expensive, that's how capitalism works.
Reading these comments is like reading a book entitled:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"American Stupidity.... how to ruin a great thing."
No nation ever gained security, stability, and financial prosperity... fostering a trade that destroys the lives of its users, their families and their employment.
Get out of the country that your fathers blead and died for.... the land that they fought to establish freedom and justice for....
It was never meant to be the land for you to become selfish and do drugs in....
First strengthen consumer protection laws, esp. in the area of labeling to include ingrediants, recommended usage, poss. side effects and country of origin. Granting consumers the protection of the Civil Court rather then the persecution of the Criminal Courts.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMathmatically a nation that makes up less then 5% of the world's population and houses 25% of the world's prisoners can NOT be the "Land of the Free".
Only politicans and bureaucrats could dream up something as stupid as our present "war on drugs". Prohabition never works. It is ineffective and counter productive. Let's take the crime out of drug use, and the money away from crime lords.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNow how do you keep the money away from politicans and their friends.
Happened to read in the columnist in our local paper -the Fact that in 1910 1.3% of the population in US were Drug addicts -in 1970 ~1.3% -and in 2005 ~1.3%. We're looking at a constituent minority -not some plague.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLET PEOPLE FROM THE INSIDE TELL US WHAT DRUG LIFE IS ABOUT. IT'S A SOCIETY. IT'S NOT JUST INDIVIDUALS IN THEIR FILTHY ROOMS AND ALLEY GETTING OFF AND FORGETTING ABOUT THEIR FELLOW. DRUGS ARE A SOCIETY. DRUGS ARE -NO DOUBT -THE OLDEST SOCIETY KNOWN TO MANKIND. IF YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING REALLY GOOD -LIKE TEA, TOBACCO OR CHOCOLATE, MARIJUANA AND THESE DAYS CRACK. YOU'VE GOT A SOCIETY.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIN MY EXPERIENCE -A LIFE TIME OF EXPERIENCE -THE MOST IMPORTANT FUNCTION FOR THIS SOCIETY FOR AN INDIVIDUAL -IS THE CORRECT USE OF A DRUG -SO IT'S NOT A LIFE PROBLEM. MANY OF YOU WILL SAY " HA -THERE IT IS , THE SEDUCTION" AND DRUGS ARE SEDUCTION. BUT SEX IS SEDUCTION. CAN'T FIND A THRILL -SOMEONE WILL FIND YOU. THAT'S SOCIETY.
AND WITH SOCIETY COMES CULTURE. THE ENTIRE ENTERTAINMENT AND ART WORLD TODAY IS INVIGORATED AND CONVEYED BY A DRUG SOCIETY. IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN. TO CREATE YOU MUST FIND PEACE.
THAT'S JUST THE WAY IT IS. ~O~
picaj
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGeorge Washington grew pot....one of those founding fathers your just so sure that didn't intend for the people to do drugs.....Read "Ain't Nobodies Business If You Do" by Peter McWilliams it's all about this stupid WAR ON DRUGS.
I'll say it again the WAR ON DRUGS kills alot more people than the drugs do. In the last few months the WAR ON DRUGS has killed over 4,500 people in mexico and I think some in the US......I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that I doubt the use of illegal drugs have killed that many people in the US in the last 100 years. theat it like alcohol and the street violence will be gone in no time
It feels fairly good to see that some sanity is growing among the grass-roots! Or, may be I should not be too pleased by what I read here? You guys might just be some of the rare weeds in this world of mostly half-wits .
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBTW, have you thought of the effect it would have if US and EU government agencies started selling pure heroin at cost - thereby cutting out the market for the callous white-collar criminals at the top of this now thriving drug-trade?
This suggestion (or imagined scenario) is one that would reflect even greater (optimally pragmatic) sociopolitical sanity - one that is even more difficult for ordinary neurotically conservative people to grasp and accept than it is for them to understand the benefits of a mere decriminalisation of users of this drug.
(Besides, another "nicely undermining" effect of such a most radical non-violent policy change would be that it would become harder for the Taliban and similarly sick political sects to finance their fiendish activities.)
OK the current admin has not EVEN gotten rid of the patriot act (not to mention PD51 etc) and has been obtuse on two occasions on the issue of legalization. Lets not forget change.gov - they asked, we answered, they swept under the rug and moved on. The complete corruption by the banker elite has completely co-opted our government, our system and our liberty. They do not intend on reversing this fascist path we are on but to build upon it. This is evident on rohm's comments on the no fly list - that "if your on that list, then you do not have the right to own a gun - ever"... Wake up and smell reality.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSuch an important white paper, I glad that SciAm wrote about it, to provide more credence to the findings. Living in Brazil I can tell you that far to many soft-drug offenders are being sent to prison, where they learn to become real criminals. My hope is that Brazil will study the findings of Portugal and follow.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wrote a blog about this report here: http://www.reefersmoke.com
Sounds simple, decriminalization, legalization ultimate outcome harm reduction through reduced drug usage, criminal penalties and diseases; gee why don't we try it? Because too many in this country make their living off keeping drugs illegal. First, the front end importing and selling at huge profits. Second, the back end, DEA (lol) tasked with enforcing our archaic drug policies is bigger than most corporations; employing over 100,000 people with a budget over 18 billion dollars. Both groups livelihood depends on keeping drugs illegal preventing any sensible drug policy.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe constitution does not say we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That was the declaration of independence.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI consider myself Conservative (didn't vote for the current president, but didn't like the other choices either), but I have to agree that our prisons are overflowing with criminals with a drug habit. With decriminalization, not only would these people not go to prison for just doing drugs, but how many other crimes are committed to get the drugs?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHowever, these days, instead of decriminalizing drugs, we are starting down the road of "criminalizing " tobacco and trans fats. And, these two issues are being preached by the liberal party, not the conservatives. It seems that we are traveling in the wrong direction on this road.
the opening paragraph in the constitution does infact estabish justice,domestic tranquility,common defence,general welfare,LIBERTY and posterity. I think thats close enough to life, LIBERTY and the pursuit of happiness. Your just splitting hairs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn article VI it says that any treaty made by our government becomes the law of the land.......I think the Declaration would fall under this umbrella.
So, in so many words...it does guarantee...life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness
tharris, what do you mean you don't do drugs? Wake up; of course you do drugs - caffeine, sucrose, etc! If you haven't seen anyone you know damaged or handicapped by drugs then you've had your eyes closed or removed.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisStill, I agree with Dolmance that we adult humans should be able to put whatever we choose into our systems. Our national anthem (U.S.A.) says we're the land of the free, but we are still chained by ignorance and bad laws.
Very good for Portugal. Our nations need to legalize all of it. We can't afford it, and it is a total waste of time.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"It's your life and you can do .. what you want"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA fine principle as long as you don't consider social issues ...
But don't get me wrong: I'm all for the Portugese initiative. Seventies to nineties Dutch and Belgian tolerance laws don't go far enough.
As someone who spent time in prison for drugs, lost wives over drugs, and finally realized that i was making up my own addiction -- and had the key to freedom.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI stopped getting high.
gary in florida
Gary...you never should have spent time in prison as long as you harmed no one but yourself.....and I mean physical harm or robbery...breaking anothers heart is not a crime.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have a cigarette addiction; one of the worst I believe. When trying to quit I have to pay for this which I think is obscene; if the health industry acknowledges this cost, why not absorb the cost of medication?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisnhprman Do you mean Addictive Drugs, like caffeine, Tobacco, Alcohol, many prescription Pharma drugs, etc.? Those are legal, (w/conditions regarding their use). The folks using / addicted to those drugs for the most part, function nearly as well, sometimes better than their non-using counterparts. It's called "addiction maintenance".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's just as possible to be a "functional" Opiate addict, as it is for a caffeine addict to be functional in society. The primary difference is, the Opiate addict is usually driven underground, due to the legal sanctions regarding it's use. There, they commune w/ an Underground Society, as their addiction deepens, begin to regard their behavior and deepening addiction as 'Normal", with little but foggy memories of what used to be normal to them.
Underground, the addict gets no reinforcement for positive behaviors, like possibly breaking the chain of addiction. The further underground we drive such addicts, the less chance society has to keep such addicts productive and functional. It is also more likely we will incarcerate the addict, (yeah, great idea sending those folks to then commune w/ sociopaths), at great tax-payer expense.
Those of you that have ever been addicted to nicotine, might have some understanding of addiction, how hard it is to break. You have some idea of how that addiction was reinforced by the folks you commune. Fortunately, withdrawal is largely manifested by anxiety issues.
Caffeine addicts probably don't even realize they're addicted. The drug is everywhere! We even feed it to kids! Try eliminating caffeine from your daily intake. (You have to work pretty hard, and read a lot of labels to avoid it.) My experience was head-ache, nausea, shakes, sweats, anxiety, inability to concentrate. That lasted several days, until I went out and got some coffee.
I didn't have to go to an underground dealer. I wasn't a target of law-enforcement when I went out to satisfy my "Jones", and it only cost me half a dollar. My job may be in jeopardy if I were to take the time to break my caffeine addiction. Hell, my employer provides "all you can drink", free coffee to all employees.
That's called Addiction Management. It's not too far fetched to think that all addictions can be managed, with conditions, but without criminal sanctions for use.
Decriminalization makes so much sense. If instead of jail time, everybody caught with simple possession had to go to "drug treatment." Then instead of the kids who are caught saying that they had to go to jail three times, they would have to say, I had to go to drug treatment three times.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPeople would look at that more like a problem because it suggests that there is something mentally unstable about that individual. It would probably create a lot of public scorn on the actual drug problem that the US has by shedding light on the health concern. It is easy to cast off somebody who has been to jail, but harder to do the same for somebody who has a real mental health problem. If we socially classified these individuals, they could get the help they needed.
About the Portuguese program: The total number of heroin addicts (wich were the main target of the law shift in Portugal, because of the health problems) dropped in the last years, however consuption of some other substances have grown (mostly cocaine), this seems unrelated to the changes in the law, following a european trend and the fact that Portugal has become more a cocaine entrance door to the European market in drug traffic routes.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere are now more heroin addicts in treatment and less in jail, but Portuguese society mostly still looks at drug consumption as a immoral behavior. (The change was in the law, not on social values)
Hopefully, the Obama administration will start utilizing the "scientific method" and follow Portugal, and the other enlightened nations.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm portuguese, and all i can say is: Its fake.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPeople are just as afraid of going to jail as of going to a "education" house.
First, your criminal record will be stained ad eternum.
Second, its a massive, forced, "cure" of the drugs.
They won't arrest you for possessing marijuana or ganja or something else, but you're still not allowed to have it.
Diferent names, same bullcrap...
My 2 cents. BTW, this as nothing to do with lowering new HIV cases or OD deaths... That came from a massive television education, sensibilization, school teaching, and.. most of all... eliminating taboos. Everyone has a friend who consumes drugs, light or heavy... so people know a little more about it...
Same as with juvenile pregnancy... massive media sensibilization.
I am a corrections officer (prison guard) and I think they should allow our inmates to grow and use pot. You would not believe all the hard drugs they give the inmates... at tax payers expense thank you, It is hypocritical to the extreme to lock a man up for drugs and then feed him more drugs in prison. Oh, I get it, the Corp-tocracy says it's OK if they get their cut.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"We shouldn't even be having this conversation - this is about people having the right to put whatever they want into their bodies. It's nobody's business but there own."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAgreed -- to an extent; one's personal use of substance should not, in any way, negatively affect another person. Liberty should not be abused and used as an excuse for negatively impacting our society. It becomes your business when drug dealers bring drugs into clean neighborhoods; we are not islands.
Im from Portugal and i think that a balanced policy ( like we have here ) would benefit U.S. The drug use in a determined stage of life is normal, young people have the curiosity to experiment drugs and we can´t deal with those young citizens like we deal with a regular criminal. They need guidance and help to avoid getting drug dependent. A good prevention policy its important too.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIm from Portugal and i think that a balanced policy ( like we have here ) would benefit U.S. The drug use in a determined stage of life is normal, young people have the curiosity to experiment drugs and we can´t deal with those young citizens like we deal with a regular criminal. They need guidance and help to avoid getting drug dependent. A good prevention policy its important too.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLooking to politicians isn't going to help. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYIC0eZYEtI&feature=PlayList&p=EC8A49DB3FF29B14&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=39 for your real answer. It's time to eat the rich...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"No nation ever gained security, stability, and financial prosperity... fostering a trade that destroys the lives of its users, their families and their employment."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSounds to me like you're referring to alcohol. I think you forget that there was at least a century in this country's history when many substances were not banned, and yet the nation grew in population and wealth, built a transcontinental railroad, had a civil war and reunited, etc...see my point? You're wrong. Stop making baseless assertions please.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.leap.com
"Drugs are too Dangerous to be Controlled by Criminals"
I whole heartedly agree with Todd above.. And what funny is that we all know its true. The previous analogy with alcohol is a perfect example of the results. When will we open our eyes and wake up to the fact that the war on drugs is an engine of destruction. I pray it happens in my lifetime and have/will devote all my power to the effort.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI thought Portugal had "legalized" drugs, not "decriminalized"them. I don't understand the difference. I have advocated complete and legalization of all drugs for many years, but our entrenched "powers that be" won't even consider this. I am a resident of Mississippi; prior to hard liquor being legalized here, there were dire predictions that the streets would b e overrun with drunks and all sorts of problems...NONE of which came to pass, and the moonshiners and bootleggers who opposed legalization were drastically curtailed or run out of business completely. I'm confident that legalization of drugs in the United States would result in LESS crime and drug overuse and would be an economic boost to all citizens except drug dealers, law enforcement, and politicians.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd that decision would be soley based on your own opinion?,, read the comments and the arguements presented here before bashing people for ecouraging something that at first seems like a bad idea but in truth it is a proven method to solve the very same problem that you are trying to convey, if these illicit street drugs are indeed legalized and there are treatment options available instead of incarceration I believe if a place like Portugal did so well with this experiment that the world should take notice and copy the idea. Then a country worth bleeding and dying for will be truly realized.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisand this decision is based soley on your own opinion? read the comments and arguements presented here along with the fact based proof that this strategy works before you start saying such righteous nonsense. If legalization of illicit street drugs had such a profound impact on a country such as Portugal, perhaps the leaders of other countries should consider taking the same aproach. Then we just (might) have a country WORTH bleeding and dying for, the ones I see at the moment aren't worth the effort or sacriffice. Keep your pious opinions to yourself if you have nothing consrtuctive to add to the issue.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thissorry to double post, I wasn't registered when i posted the first comment so i dodn't know if it went through ;P Both comments have the same point and arguement, if legalization or decriminalization can be such a great thing in another country then why, do we automatically refuse to see the merit of trying the same practises here. I did read one comment that also made me consider the reason behind our 'unwillingness' to do something that would most likely be the saviour of our currant society,,, if we took dealers out of the equation then law enforcement and the politicians would be terribly saddened from the loss of profits gained by allowing this BS to continue uncontested.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt was just marijuana wich was liberalized in Portugal. Yes, it was a good policy achievement,but there still is much more to be developed. Its' technical particularities continue to be scientificaly ridiculous. This is confirmed in the quantities one can legaly possess: 25 grams of marijuana or 5 grams of hash, and any consumer knows that the first type can be much more potent, so i don't get it... Plus, if you get caught you'll probably end up having to do some community service..lol.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe natural health problems inherent to the product circulating in the black market still exist. There is no point in ,any responsible adult who chooses to consume these substances, having to subject him/herself to adultered compounds that are far more damaging to one's health than the natural and qualified product.. So, there are obviously big economic/political interests behind the drug policies.
I quote, "Drug legalization removes all criminal penalties for producing, selling and using drugs; no country has tried it."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMay I point out that for the majority of human history most drug use has almost always been dealt with informally within the family or social group? Most drugs illegal today were made so in the early part of the twentieth century.
Please do not misunderstand me, I am not in favor of drug use. But I am also not in favor of government control of what an individual does to his own body. I prefer to think that my body belongs to me, and not to the politicians who happen to be in power, but please correct me if I am wrong.
I also feel the same regarding laws directed at sexual behaviour. There are sufficient laws against violence to protect individuals. No legislatory body, I feel, has the right to tell me what I can or cannot do with my body. God gave my body to me, not to a group of people who happen to be, at one point in time, in control of a wholly artificial human construct called a "country".
The United States could use this lesson from Portugal. Save a lot of money and stop a lot of crime.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe linked destination of the highlighted phrase, "among teens, was a global decline in marijuana use" lands on another SciAm article, but I saw no assertion or evidence there to support the claim that teen global use of cannabis was in decline.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBesides examining Portugal, however, we may examine two places that have had legal cannabis for several decades: The Netherlands and Alaska. The former has a legal distribution system, the latter does not. Either way, they have not suffered the type of dire consequences that Drug Warriors warn will befall us if we repeal Prohibition. Who has suffered more, The Netherlands or Colombia? Alaska or Mexico?
LEAP is great! But the website is actually at http://www.leap.cc.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy name is barry, I am a victiom of this (crime against humanity"s war on drugs) I worked in a grocery store for 11 years, then became an auto mechanic, which I have been for 15 years, I have spent 7 years in the washington state prison system, I was selling drugs on the side of working to pay for my expensive drug habit. I worked fine while using my drug that makes my life much more enjoyable. I take it once in the mourning once in the evening, sounds like taking a prescription to me. I have never I have no felonies other than drug possesion and sales, I have never hurt anyone, people that know me think I am the nicest, most helpfull and generous person they know, If I could go to a doctor and get a prescription for methadone I would never have had to use illegal drugs. Our drug policies have tied all doctors hands, (words straight from my doctor) its made my life a totall nightmare. The prison system if full of people like me, people that would be working,living fruitfull lives,paying taxes are in our prisons and its a damn shame please wont somebody do something !
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHi my name is barry and I am a victom of our war on drugs,I have worked all my life in a grocery store and as an auto mechanic, I have spent 7 wasted years of my life in washington state prisons and at least 10 more on state probation. If you ask anyone that knows me they would say I was the kindest most passive person they know. Our drug policies have tied doctors hands (words from my doctors mouth) If I were able to get a prescription of methadone from my doctor I would never have had a reason to sell drugs. I have had two suicides in my family (father-uncle) 2003-4 they as I suffered from severe depression and I imagine if they were able to get something that really worked from thier doctors they would still be with me. My doctor tells me he knows that this substance helps me far more than the stellar amount of antidepressants I have been on yet he could get into trouble if he prescribed methadone for depression. I fear I will not live long enough to see the change that would allow me to live a happy and long life, science is beauty goodbye to all you people with common sense. Barry B.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think anybody over the age of 21 should be free to do whatever they like ,as long as our schools give a proper education about drugs in the first place,not the just say no bullshit of the 80s .most people who have had drug problems didnt have a clue about what they were getting into .Obviously quality control would be very important [any jobs going give me a shout].Seriously though,look at amsterdam,most of the youth dont smoke weed as its not made into this big thing like here in england,i also think forced treatment is not good either ,most heroin addicts spend 10 years of using /commiting crime before they realise it is an evil drug that kills people and stop,you can try and force rehab on them but its not going to work,also id like to know how hundreds of thousands of kilos of heroin and cocaine get into our country every week?i think the governments are mainly responsible,look at afganistan ,since our troops went over the opium harvests the taliban were destroying have gone up and up,so that gives me a clear indication of where its coming from,heroin is not a new thing ,its been killing people and ruining lives for hun dreds of years,THE WAR ON DRUGS IS A BUSINESS TO MAKE MONEY.Most drug crimes are for simple posession,yes lock the dealers up,thats fair enough,But dont tell me not to take magic mushrooms or blaze some hi garde bud,when ive been working all week and paying my taxes,Lets ban alcohol then if everything else is bad,lets all be abstainant,lets see what the government say when we try and ban alcohol or cigarettes,also all the anti drug adverts in england are ecstacy or cannabis,never any mention about heroin ,cocaine or crack,whys that then??WELL DONE PORTUGAL-HATS OF TO YOU.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI don't care about the politics of legalization or the policy discussion. But frankly I am shocked at how news organizations keep regurgitating the same talking points generated by the CATO research without truly analyzing the RAW numbers that they were based on. It is a marketing pitch, look closely and while teen numbers are lower, young adult numbers are higher after legalization. Furthermore I am in graduate school and doing a research paper on this very topic and it is impossible to get multiple sources for comprehensive studies. Where are they? What is everyone quoting? I spent 3 months in 2009 living in Chiado/Bairo Alto in Lisbon (epicenter of drug and alcohol party scene -- think New Years Eve in Time Square but EVERY night Thursday through Saturday). Check out LA Times story on 12/6/2010 if you don't believe me on "Lisbon Loves The Night Life." I can tell you this first hand, there is a major and I repeat MAJOR drug and alcohol abuse problem in Portugal. I am Portuguese and things have definitely changed. It is legal to drink alcohol and walk the streets. The bars are so small that folks just buy beer and roam all over the streets all night. You cannot sit at table having dinner in a restaurant by the window without a drug dealer outside coming up to the glass in PLAIN view and try to sell you drugs. My very nice building was filled with party goers doing drugs and drinking ALL night long. In the morning Portugal has a SWAT team of street cleaners that literally have to remove a carpet of 6-9 inches of crushed plastic cups from the streets and park areas. You cannot see the ground. So while I highly recommend Lisbon as a FUN place to vacation and obviously party, it is ludicrous to say that things are better. I am there every year and have been since I emigrated to the US in the late 60's as a child. By the way I got mugged there (he was high on Heroin, and illegal, and spent two days in court and befriended the fleet of Police Officers that spend there days there to testify to drunken driving, petty theft and they told me that they don't even bother going after drug related offenses (dealing or otherwise) because it isn't worth their time. They are fined 400 US equivalent dollars for NOT showing up to testify AND they don't get paid for that days work if it happens to be there day off and the courts don't prosecute anyway. So the government drug treatment numbers are at best weak and mostly distorted but reporters have no clue when they report that there are much bigger policy issues going on here.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswsa502: What??? Telling me Republicans are for legislation to eliminate or soften drug laws is like showing me a blue marble and telling me its red, then when I insist its blue you tell me i am just to ignorant to see. The Republican party is so aligned with religious groups in our society that see fit telling others how to live life. Perhaps people who would like to see small gvt would like to see decriminalization but that is not the line that most Republicans, the marble is blue!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe bottom line of the 'War on Drugs' in the US is racism, pure and simple. One need look no further than the disparities in sentencing for holding the same quantity of crack cocaine ( more popular among minorities) opposed to powder cocaine( used more often by whites) and subject to less far less onerous standards.But having all these bogus laws on the books gives the po po an excuse for pulling someone over or rousting a group of citizens for the simple act of being in their neighborhood. A black man in this country has a better chance of going to prison than college and that's because, as previous posters have pointed out , there's too much money to be made by this form neoslavery. The fact that we'd all be better offwith these men in society and contributing their ideas and labor and being a part of instead of apart is lost on a significant subset of our society that can't see beyond this quarter's profits and still believes the 'south' will rise again and holds the bible to be the word of god that should guide us in all of our decisions.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe could tax the drugs if leagle,our prison population would be cut in half and those people would most likely have jobs,be taxed and spend money that would help our economy.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this<a href="http://furniturepackagesportugal.co.uk" rel="dofollow">Furniture Packages Portugal</a>
It's a good way of showing on how the Portugal government banned the used of life killing drugs. These banned drugs not kill only a single person but can also be spread from one another through as STDs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this<a href="http://pharmacydepotonline.com"rel=dofollow">Pharmacy Online</a>
It's a good way of showing on how the Portugal government banned the used of life killing drugs. These banned drugs not kill only a single person but can also be spread from one another through as STDs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this<a href="http://pharmacydepotonline.com"rel=dofollow">Pharmacy Online</a>
I NEED TO NO WHAT THIS STREET DRUG MEAN? COCK ROACH AND FB
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI WOULD LIKE TO NO WANT FB , AND COCK ROACH MEANS
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe real reason for our "drug" policy is to keep hemp off the market. Everything now being made from oil can be made from hemp, everything. But then again, the oil industry is quite powerful and politicians feed freely at their trough of filthy money.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSadly, I would say that you are correct that too many people make too much money off of drugs being illegal. Included in that is the fact that the religious elements of or society do not want drugs legal.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy favorite reply to those who state that I should prove that marijuana (for example) should be legalized is that they prove to me why it should be illegal. They cannot point to any scientific facts as to why it should be illegal, and always come back with easily refuted anecdotal evidence.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat a ridiculous comment. You show extreme ignorance in insinuating that (for example) marijuana destroys lives.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd to suggest that I get out of the country that I honorably served and that my father honorably served because I want to legally smoke marijuana is highly offensive. There is no more selfishness to wanting to smoke marijuana than there is to wanting to drink alcohol. And there is a LOT more selfishness in wanting to smoke cigarettes.
Your extreme ignorance is showing.
I was addicted to drugs, but with anguish and perseverance we will succeed. but i fear that I will always back to the old mistakes. the idea is to have friends, to communicate, get out, to not stay alone, these are some tips given to me from <a rel="follow" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/DrugRehab08"> Narconon Vista Bay</a>.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI was addicted to drugs, but with anguish and perseverance we will succeed. but i fear that I will always back to the old mistakes. the idea is to have friends, to communicate, get out, to not stay alone, these are some tips given to me from <a rel="follow" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/DrugRehab08"> Narconon Vista Bay</a>.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlong with the "Federal Reserve" system and the idea/concept that the will of the American people is being met in Washington, the "war on drugs" is among the biggest farces and hoaxes in human history.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe American CIA, (in conjuction with the US military acting as security/enforcement), is the largest illegal drug distribution network in the world -- with proceeds that would be hard to genuinely assess.
And as long as the political system in America thrives on over-simplistic, 6th grader mentalities, nothing will change.
Sensible solutions to a wide array of deadly serious matters that face America will continue to elude a political machine that is dictated by legalized bribery and a population less and less capable of critical thinking.
Wishful thinking aside, illegal drugs are here to stay, and as long as mind-numbing profits are to be made by the puppet masters that hide in the shadows, their toll on society will go unabated.
But what you put into your body affects others, this time. If you have an overdose or get sick, or can't get a job because you're addicted, then guess who has to pay for your pain? The rest of us. Somebody has to pay for the drug rehab, your welfare or Social Security if you can't work or get a job, and your counseling among other things. That means if you hve children to take care of, it's harder on them. Plus, while you're an addict, you shouldn't get a license, unless you can prove while on the stuff that you can adequately control a car. Not driving prevents you from having a lot of jobs and going to the grocery store with enough food on the way back for your family, if you have one. There must be effective counseling on how to adjust once addicted, how to get help, and how to get over it or healed of it, along with decriminalization. But you can't make it legal because then you'd have more addicts and billions more spent for their rehab, welfare, counseling, etc. Legalization would be saying it's alright to do it no matter what the consequences (like someone else said).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFrom “Sagas Of An American Businessman, Book I – “APPLICATION OF UNORTHODOX CHINESE MILITARY TACTICS ON AMERICAN BUSINESS, POLITICS AND THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY” (Available online at www.sabotagecolumbia.com)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisREPEAL LAWS THAT MAKE STREET DRUGS ILLEGAL
In order to stop the sale of alcohol in this country it took the 18th Amendment to the Constitution Of The United States. When the law proved unenforceable the 18th Amendment prohibiting the sale of alcohol was repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933. It was only after the repeal of the 18th Amendment that street drugs such as heroin and cocaine were made illegal in this country by the passing of laws by the Congress of The United States – not a Constitutional Amendment as should have been required. It was the same groups that had been making money off of bootleg alcohol, I allege, that got the street drugs made illegal, so they would again have a source of revenue.
All this illegal money has to be laundered through legitimate appearing businesses and is the chief weapon of the PLA and Organized Crime. If these money laundering operations did not exist, “Organized Crime” could not exist! If not laundered through companies in the free world, then the money, I allege, is going back directly to China to offset their production costs even more, giving them an unreal competitive advantage in
anything they care to use at home or export.
Honest, reputable and good businessmen will have nothing to do with money laundering. So it is the near do well, the incompetent, the stupid or just plain criminal businessman that will launder money and drive the good and honest businessman out of business. The laundered money is his insurance policy that he can undercut his competitor’s prices and not go broke while he literally thrives off the bodies of women, children and “Les Miserables." The money launderer, fearing he or she will get caught, will bring in only enough illegal money to lower his price about 10 to 15 percent below his competitors. If it was not for the fear of getting caught, he could literally give his product away as the product is merely a front to justify the money he or she is supposedly making. These businessman and countries are the world’s biggest incompetents with the world’s lowest moral standards, deny them access to laundered money and they will quickly flounder and fail or be forced to draw on hidden cash reserves (as they do not really know how to run a business otherwise they never would have gotten into money laundering), revealing themselves as criminals. Cut off their illegal revenue and their faces and backsides will be revealed!
I ask the reader to consider "How many Blacks from the US are seen getting on planes and going to Columbia"? The answer of course is "nil" or nearly none. So how is the Black Community and other poverty groups are so infected with drugs such as heroin and cocaine? The answer is simple, it is the criminals within the people that enforce and regulate the laws that are the ones involved in this illegal trade. They may not actually or physically transport these drugs themselves, but they are providing protection at every level within government for these drug dealers.
A great and large degree of credibility should be given to the “BLACK PANTHERS” claim that when they shot for control of the US through the ballot box, the FBI made deals with “Organized Crime” to allow them to infect the Black Communities with Cocaine and Heroin for the simple reason— “Whoever heard of a Drug Addict that could plan anything?” This then threw the FBI into the Kennedy Assassinations conspiracy and makes them subject to blackmail by the PLA!
The unfortunate who become drug addicts "ARE VICTIMS OF ORGANIZED CRIME AND THE PLA"! The Book "Dr. Jeykll And Mr. Hyde" is supposed to represent the "Alcoholic." If this be true then surely, "Dracula" represents the "Drug Pusher" and his victims, the drug addicts, have no more control of their actions than the fictional Dracula's victims. These victims are truly the "Living Dead" and are referred to as such by Police in many parts of the country.
These "Les Miserables" are again victimized when they are arrested by police who are involved in and receiving payoffs from the drug, tried and represented by lawyers who are receiving payoffs from the drug trade and the final insult, they are sentenced to prison and in some cases, death, by the same judges who received payoffs to make sure the drug trade continues!
At some point these drugs will be legal in the USA. The "war on drugs" is a farce, but it is not a product of foolish or unintelligent people. These people have an agenda. They want government to grow and are unwilling to give up power. Why, hell, they might have to lay-off people that work for them, or, worse yet, have to take a cut in pay. And what do you do with all the "welfare money" that goes to buy drugs. I live in Texas and before they replaced "food stamps" with state-funded debit cards the Attorney General's office released a study that they submitted as as evidence to the Texas House that over half of the food stamps were sold at a 1/4 to 1/3 face value to pay for drugs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisQuestion: So, what are the Portuguese doing to prevent people who get money not to work from buying drugs with it?
But what you put into your body affects others, this time.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this>>>This is true, but if we have the responsibility to >create a government ("A government for the people, by >the people, etc.") then first each of us individually >MUST be responsibile for their own selves. If someone, >assumes responsibility for another this is the >>>definition of a "master-slave relationship."
If you have an overdose or get sick, or can't get a job because you're addicted, then guess who has to pay for your pain? The rest of us. Somebody has to pay for the drug rehab, your welfare or Social Security if you can't work or get a job, and your counseling among other things.
>>>>>WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, let the person suffer, starve, >>>beg, die...If the person begs for help and accepts to >>>live off CHARITY, OK, but that people is a slave, they >>>>should NOT VOTE, they should NOT DEMAND, they shoulc >>NOT COMPLAIN, until they get on they feet again and >>>contribute to society!!!!
That means if you have children to take care of, it's harder on them. (>>>Do you intend to sterilize people, too???)
>>>>Allow churches ( NOT the state- "the enemy is the >>state"-read- "Our Enemy , the State by Albert Jay Nock, >>free- online) to adopt the children. Or, if there is not enough food to go around, let then die, the parent >>should have thought about that before sex.
Plus, while you're an addict, you shouldn't get a license, unless you can prove while on the stuff that you can adequately control a car. (>>>too much government control>>>"Our enemy, the state")
Not driving prevents you from having a lot of jobs and going to the grocery store with enough food on the way back for your family, if you have one. There must be effective counseling on how to adjust once addicted, how to get help, and how to get over it or healed of it, along with decriminalization. But you can't make it legal because then you'd have more addicts and billions more spent for their rehab, welfare, counseling, etc. (>>>>who it paying for all of this crap, the GOVERNMENT (The State)- THE ENEMY is CONFISCATING ALL WEALTH IN the USA to turn us into SLAVES) (>>look what the world bank has already done to other bankrupt nations)
>>>>SWORDOFJUSTICE I understand you want to save the world, but that means you think you are GOD. You are not God.
>>>>By playing GOD you show intention of making everybody else a slave. This is why the USA suffers, because the government is playing GOD. This will not end well. It has been tired before and always fails.
The only reason they won't comment is because: IT'S ALL ABOUT THAT DOLLA DOLLA IN THE U.S.A!!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree complete with everything you said.It makes so much since, but when Porp 19 failed in Califorina I feel this drug war will NEVER end. What can the connon everyday person do to correct this problem and overturn these laws which have far far more detrailmental impact on out population. I fear it will never end because everyone in law inforcement, Judges, DA's, AUSA's, Defense Lawyer's, The people that construct the prisons to the people who work at them. Drug Dealers at all levels to the Cartels. All of these people benift from these laws, its how they mak their living; We all kknow who pays these people, you and I, but lets not forget the people that pay the highest prices of all... hundred of thousands of users out their pay black market prices, and the ultimate price of all their freedom! Their health and many time they pay with their lives as the drugs are made in labs not fit for animals1
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTHE WAR ON DRUGS IS OVER!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisnow its only a matter of time before the people force the GOV. to do the right thing! Years ago, a HITMAN that worked for the MAFIA was saying and telling whomever would listen to him this very thing. years later this may even come to be. HUMANS sometimes learn slow....real slow. its time even for the SHEEPLE to start yelling in the street. its time for this country to do the right thing, we cant be giving this money to GOV. when its the wrong thing, we cant afford it anymore, people cant even get work, people are forced to walk away from homes they dont have money to keep, its time for, THE DRUG WAR TO END! use of drugs is an illness not a crime!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGreat Britain has not de-criminalised drug use. We did try decreasing cannabis to a class c drug, however this was soon reversed. Drug laws here are still harsh and have ruined the lives of some of the nicest people I know. The only way forward is legalization and legislation, this is nothing more than mere common sense.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thismoleman: i think part of the answer will be when those that on juries wake up, they will no longer convict thoses that are charged with drug laws, and only then will anything change in the USA i think. people will wake up to the power of the jury, and laws will dealt with by the people. the ones with the true and only real power! THEY may create any laws they desire, wont matter much of the people wont convict any one!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMOLEMAN-is this sort of thing with the JURY possible also on Great Britain? i am asking cause i really dont know and was wondering, i pray that it is for this may be the only way to also beat it there.
sorry everyone for my typos, i really need get another keyboard. this one has sticky keys. I am also typing this cause i want to be the first one on the new page and i am now 101.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJURY's in the USA are going to be smarter then the ones past, they will know that some of what they JUDGE tells them are nothing but lies! It the right for anyone that is on a JURY to decide and vote whatever they desire. They are not required to follow an unjust LAW that shold not be a LAW in the first place. EX: tax laws and drug laws to start with. I could go on but for now i will not.
I am new to this so please bare with me. I have a question.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this(you said) This country would save hundreds of billions of dollars if we would end this stupid war on drugs. We could tax the drugs if leagle,our prison population would be cut in half and those people would most likely have jobs,be taxed and spend money that would help our economy.
And my question is could it be that the county (US), state, or county depending on there laws. Makes more money from the fines imposed and not only fines the classes and treatment imposed to be paid for by the charged and convicted drug user. And in most cases leading to debt causing stress and depression. Which in most cases cause the person to want to use drugs even more so. Thus creating a cycle of steady income from drug users.??????
Oh and sorry that question was for Todd brown.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"drug overdoses dropped from around 400 to 290 annually, and the number of new HIV cases caused by using dirty needles to inject heroin, cocaine and other illegal substances plummeted from nearly 1,400 in 2000 to about 400 in 2006"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFollowed by this gem:
Peter Reuter, a criminologist at the University of Maryland, College Park, says he's skeptical decriminalization was the sole reason drug use slid in Portugal, noting that another factor, especially among teens, was a global decline in marijuana use.
Ummm, peter, well first off nobody shoots up weed & 5000 yrs. of marijuana use has not resulted in EVEN ONE overdose. What a tool!!!
Why would scientific American print this nonsense?
Dear Dolmance,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWould you kindly point me to the section the the Constitution that says we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Oh yeah, that's right, it doesn't :).
When defending their dangerous and counter-productive war on (some) drugs Prohibitionists often cite our obligation to 'The Children', but prohibition has made all of these 'at present illegal' substances available in schools and even prisons. So how has that helped our kids?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisProhibition has also raised gang warfare to a level not seen since the days of alcohol bootlegging. How has that helped our kids?
Prohibition has creating a prison-for-profit synergy with evil drug lords and terrorists. How has that helped our kids?
Prohibition has removed many of our cherished and important civil liberties. How has that helped our kids?
Prohibition has put many previously unknown and contaminated drugs on our streets. How has that helped our kids?
Prohibition has escalating Murder, Theft, Muggings and Burglaries. How has that helped our kids?
Prohibition has overcrowding the courts and prisons, thus making it increasingly impossible to curtail the people who are really hurting and terrorizing others. How has that helped our kids?
Prohibition has evolved local street gangs into transnational enterprises with intricate power structures that reach into every corner of society, controlling vast swaths of territory and with significant social and military resources at their disposal. How has that helped our kids?
It's the declaration of independence that states we have a right ti life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What was your point in making that comment? Does it make you feel smarter than someone else? How about a little love? As far as the article goes. The war on drugs will never end in america unless the war on america ends. Our government(the banks) ships the drugs, launders the money, keeps it illegal to keep the price high, then puts the people cought with the drugs in a private prison that they own, puts the prisoners to work (free labor) to compete for contracts (keeping market wages low). It's called crony capitalism. The justice department gets caught shipping guns to mexico to be used in the drug war and our marines are growing the poppies.....Seriously people. Do you think the government is stupid? They know exactly what they are doing. Do you think the our education is worse than Slovenia because we can't figure it out? Do you think the drug war won't change because our politicians aren't open minded? The drug war is a success for the globalists who run this country. If a policy doesn't make sense and is bad for this country. Its probably designed to work that way. Alcohol was made legal because being illegal wasn't benefiting the crony capitalists that were in power or their bankster buddies.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe USA has to follow ther old laws or admit they have been wrong all this time or lose face and maybe release so many people from prisons and affraid of the lawsuits from all the wrongly comdemed people we have let rot in a cell for nothing.The USA wants to rule the world and control as much of the world as possible even if it is wrong and treats people like aminals,spending billions a year to lock up people or just kill them for what is more of a illness than anything else.I don't hate this country I am just sick of the goverment telling people what they can and can't do with their own lives as long as they don't hurt anyone let them do as they want and end the war on freedom.
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