In 1971 at a press conference President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse “public enemy number one in the United States.” During this conference he created the Special Action Office For Drug Abuse Prevention (SAODAP). There goal was to prohibit drugs and drug trafficking in the United states, but the question is were they effective. Between the 1970’s and 1980’s the annual rate for drug related deaths was 2 people for every 100,000 in the U.S. But in the 1990’s it started to increase. By 2000 it rose to 4 deaths for every 100,000 and by 2006 it rose to 9 deaths for every 100,000 . Nixon’s War on drugs was not effective, in fact the war had the opposite effect causing world wide violence, more refined drugs, and a higher death rate.
The war on drugs only became a federal focus in 1971 but, on the state and county level the war on drug goes to 1875. The city of San Francisco enacted the first anti opium smoking legislation. Although opium prohibition is a positive the city made the law for the wrong reasons. The law targeted Chinese immigrants, who came to work in America. During this time it was a common stereotype that the Chinese were opium addicts and would rape women because of it. In 1909 congress passed an anti opium act which outlawed opium smoking on the federal level, but it did not outlaw other types of usage of opium because it was common for white Americans to use them. The government specifically excluded white Americans from this bill because of the stereotypes around both whites and the Chinese. (Nick Dial)
In 1914 congress passed the Harrison Tax Act which outlawed all types of opioids and cocaine. The wording of the act was very vague and general so doctors could not prescribe opioids which are an essential part of some procedures and rehabilitations. Many doctors were targeted by the police and even imprisoned. Not only were the doctors criminals but the patients had to break the law to get the drugs they needed. Even today many patients aren't getting the medicine they need and the doctors can’t prescribe anything because of the regulations. But it didn’t end there: “the government also began an aggressively racist propaganda attack against cocaine-using black Americans and opium-using Chinamen. Hysterical media stories claimed that white women using these substances were running off with men of different races.”(The Drug Policy Alliance).This blatantly shows how the government specifically created the war on drugs to target minorities and reinforce stereotypes.
I find it strange that people have made it legal to drink alcohol ,but illegal to even have marijuana in your car. How often do people get drunk then wake up the next day not knowing what happened the night before because they drank to much. Only to find out they have warrants out for their arrest because they ran over someone because they drank to much. A least marijuana helps people with nausea and they don't black out when they smoke it. Alcohol is also on of they most dangerous drugs to detox from. When someone is addicted to pills ,and they try to detiox. They feel like they are going to died ,but the chances are low. Its proven that there a 30% chance for alcoholics to die when they ry to stop drinking. Alcohol is far more dangerous than marijuana so why is it illegal?
This war on drugs brings more issues than death ,and people sitting in prisons for a ridiculous amount of time. It also attracts foreigners that want to make a quick buck and crime. If it wasn't illegal these people wouldn't be attracted to us. They make millions of dollars from a plant. They are ruthless criminals that have connections all over the U.S. They kill innocent people to keep out of trouble. There is no way we would ever be able to prevent people from smuggling them in. This will be an on going war until they can't profit off of it. They wont ever be able to arrest everyone.
Richard Nixon first coined the term war on drugs a half-century ago, but the war on drugs has been going on for closer to a century. It some cases, like marijuana, the effects of a drug have been grossly overstated, and the drug itself misclassified. We have spent trillions of dollars in the century trying to stop the flow of drugs, but people seems to always find a way to get what they want.
Prohibition fails to dictate what goods people should enjoy in their life.
Prohibition inspires criminal behaviour in people,and destroys lives.
Prohibition is the failed psychology of an authority whose intelligence is on the level of an old newspaper with snotstains.
Its time to realize that our brute mentality has not gained anything, but death and destruction. We need a change of consciousness in the world. We need cannabis to help us be nice.
It has been shown that the only effect you obtain by making substances illegal, is that people will find them very easily and without paying taxes on them. Furthermore, all the money will go to criminals who cut said substances with who knows what, adding harm. Quality control, taxes and harm reduction are the way to go.
To set the record straight, I do not condone the use of any drugs and I frown upon the usage of 'hard drugs' and general addictions.
Marijuana is just another form of catching a buzz, an activity I'm certain most Americans can relate to, and has been misrepresented for years for moderately corrupt political and economical gain. I personally believe it to be far safer than alcohol, less addictive than tobacco, and overall less harmful than the previously mentioned drugs (Yes, nicotine and alcohol are technically drugs).
We are just throwing our money down the drain to combat an unwinnable 'war' in our homeland, a war that is not only labeling your average American as a 'criminal' but also imprisoning and killing these 'criminals'. You can run your Air Conditioning all morning long, but by the afternoon the house will be hot again, and you've only made the world a hotter place (Fast Fact! AC's create heat as they cool). But then again, for that analogy to really be accurate would entail that the 'War on Drugs' ever worked as well as my AC.
Naysayers, your kids you're worried about will 'do drugs' (or more realistically experiment with 'drugs') whether they're legal or not. Marijuana isn't a terrible thing, you are not protecting them from anything. Protecting them from abusing drugs is a more reasonable approach; educate your kids on the dangers of drug abuse (of all kinds, tobacco, alcohol etc.) and talk to them about what abuse looks like and can do to your health, relationships, and their futures.
In closing, I'd like to say that I believe that in legalizing marijuana, we could save the money and resources we waste on the 'War on Drugs', spare the lives of those doomed to fall suspect to a harsh and unreasonable law enforcement, and eliminate the crime that marijuana brings, (would you want your kid to go to an armed drug dealers house to score a little pot?). Granted, I wouldn't want to see stoned idiots running around all day, but if we can regulate alcohol with DUI's & PI's, I'm sure we can do the same with marijuana intoxication.
Just don't be ignorant, the 'War on Drugs' isn't working, and its purpose is lacking in meaning.
The ridiculous amount of money, resources and police invested in this disaster should be better used to treat drug addiction. The problem is that in the USA policy is shaped by extreme-right Republicans and Time Democrats. There is no political leadership, politicians have become vote accountants. A bunch of policemen dressed for combat invading a house because the owner sold a bunch of plants makes the USA look ridiculous.
After 42 years of this war, we are no closer to a drug free society. Drugs are more available, stronger and cheaper than when this war began. Unregulated, these drugs are more accessible to children than cigarettes or alcohol. Not to mention the children and families destroyed by the drug war. Alcoholics are not arrested, they are treated for their addiction. The violence many people attempt to associate with drugs are intentionally misstated and are not intimately related. Criminals target drug dealers because they cant call the cops, allowing multiple potential negative outcomes from hostage taking, home invasions, shootings, assaults, rapes, homicides, car jackings, burglaries, these are actions of criminals and are clearly crimes. Drug dealing itself is a non-violent consensual act, which is victimless.
What could be more personal, more vital to someone's freedom than the right to control what goes into one's body? The war on drugs intrudes on the most personal of all decisions. It says your body is the property of the state. It says your mind is the property of the state. My body and my mind belong to me.
First of all, I'm of the opinion that a person can put whatever they want in their bodies and we have no right to tell them they can't use X drug, it's not much different from telling someone they can't eat X food because it's bad for you. Anyway, this foolish "War on Drugs" is idiotic in that it isn't doing anything but putting people in jail. I'm in high school and I've never smoked anything, never had an ounce of alcohol, or any other kind of drug. But I'd say the majority of my school smokes marijuana, this "war" isn't doing anything at all. If you really wanted to do something, you would need to crack down a lot harder, but like I said, what right do you have to tell someone they can't smoke marijuana? Because it's bad for them? Candy is too you know, what would be your reaction to someone saying you can't eat candy. An even better example would be alcohol...which is more deadly than marijuana and a score of other drugs...
Drugs implies more than just drugs that aren't that harmless as well as drugs that are. Imagine if there wasn't the FDA. Certain medicine drugs would pass through that would potentially harm MILLIONS! Than if you think about it, the war on drugs, so you want to see PCP, Coke, Crack, Heroine, Crystal Meth, etc. roam freely on the streets. It would cause many people to have better access for cheaper prices. Although crime rates would reduce the deaths would toll up and probably cause so much disaster the US would end. When you think about drugs don't think about the basics like Weed, Coffee, etc. Think about all the drugs combined. Do you want you kids exposed to that stuff more rapidly and easier? I think not. That's basically like saying let's take away all our public learning schools because it costs way to much funding to keep them aboard. Really?
“Emerging research reveals potential links between state laws permitting access to smoked medical marijuana and higher rates of marijuana use,” his statement said. “I urge every family - but particularly those in states targeted by pro-drug political campaigns - to redouble their efforts to shield young people from serious harm by educating them about the real health and safety consequences caused by illegal drug use.”
The pot heads try to claim that decriminalization of drugs worked in Portugal based on one article in Forbes written by a stoner, Erik Kain, that misstates the facts and states that drug abuse in Portugal has decreased by 50%, which is a total lie.
Drug use in Portugal has increased substantially, and most of the police have just given up because the government passed a stupid decriminalization law in 2000, since then the drug use has gone up.
The ESPAD survey results for 2011 among young people showed that the lifetime prevalence for cannabis was 16% compared to 8% in 1999, or an 8% increase, which represents a 100% increase since 1999
“Despite the downward trend observed during 2002–06, the most recent ESPAD study corroborates the findings of the HBSC/WHO study, showing increasing consumption of illicit substances since 2006. In addition, the trend can be observed among both male as well as female students.”
You will note that two studies, both the HSSC/WHO and ESPAD studies, corroborate the fact that drug usage in Portugal have gone up despite the decriminalization since 2001.
Americans need to do whatever we can to stop this nonsense now. All drugs, including marijuana need to be banned forever. Write Congress and President Obama and tell them we are sick of these addicted pot heads telling lies. We need to save our children. Mandatory drug testing using hair samples is required in grade and high school, at least quarterly. Kids testing positive need to be put in therapy.
Why stop at legalizing drugs? Should America legalize prostitution, rape, murder, etc.? In a country that wants to protect its citizens there must be laws to punish wrong doing regardless if they work or not. Drugs make people immoral. Legalizing drugs would put other innocent people's live in danger. Look at how many people are killed by drunk drivers. The war on drugs must continue.
Drugs give you disease and kill your cells. They can hurt others that are clean (car crash) and don't say marijuana isn't a drug because it is. Marijuana will get weaker on you making you look for stronger drugs. We should increase our funding on police dogs to sniff for drugs.
The term "war" suggests that a "peace" is achievable. I think such a notion grossly misrepresents the mission at hand.
While ending the war on drugs with a success is an optimal goal, the realist would understand that it's more about damage control. We cannot win the war on drugs any more than the Cartel can win the war on counter-drug agencies.
Damage will be done by both sides, but ultimately it's all written off as "acceptable losses".
Counter-drug efforts save lives. Drug cartels do much more than smuggle balloons of cocaine through the border. They engage in human trafficking, human rights violations and mass-murder, all of which are independant of the effort to thwart counter-drug intelligence. These things would go on in the absence of a counter-drug agency.
The fact that we have a show of force, a mechanism to manage the amount of damage that's being done, is proof that a sustainable effort is possible. Ending the war on drugs is like removing the locks from your house.
Nobody claims that locks stop all break-ins, but they do stop some (if not most).
Mexico is our ally and their country is being ripped to shreds by evil weed farmers making tons of money by feeding corruption into Mexico and killing people and damaging people's minds with marijuana. Recent studies have shown that this drug may have permanent psychological effects. We can't betray Mexico or our own nation by allowing the corrupt drug trade to spread. Marijuana use should be discouraged, and those who make money off of intoxicating our youth and causing more crime in Mexico and America cannot be tolerated. The war on drugs is a war on crime and a war fighting for the U.S. and Mexico.
When children are given drugs, their bodies cannot develop correctly. This leads to them dropping out of high school and ending up in living their lives as outcasts and the high standard of living that the USA has will decrease in large tolls.This would cause the US to back down in economy and we would gradually become a third-war country.
Drugs are bad. Stop drugs forevernnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo nnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooo nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooo nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooo no no no on no ono ono ononnono nnnnn n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n ooooooo o o o o o o o o o o
I say it is their choice to ruin their bodies.It will end war in many ways but their will be still violence. So that is what i think about the hole thin about the drug war. But there should be laws about how much you can use so that's it.
I am disoppointed in these people saying no I mean like, we cannot have people growing up on drugs because it makes no sense. Drugs can/high percent chance. I mean we kinda should end it but drugs are dangerous. Drugs are just bad for you and its not okay to take it