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leon trout
Estimated Prophet



Registered: 09/13/12
Posts: 1,089
Loc: The Timbers of Fennario
Last seen: 4 years, 9 days
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Attorney General Eric Holder Acknowledges that the War on Drugs is Racist
#18674211 - 08/07/13 04:11 PM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Eric Holder Acknowledges that the War on Drugs is Racist
In a interview with NPR Eric Holder offered some real criticism of our failed War on Drugs. From NPR:
Quote:
Quote:
“The war on drugs is now 30, 40 years old,” Holder said. “There have been a lot of unintended consequences. There’s been a decimation of certain communities, in particular communities of color.”
That’s one reason why the Justice Department has had a group of lawyers working behind the scenes for months on proposals the attorney general could present as early as next week in a speech to the American Bar Association in San Francisco.
Some of the items are changes Holder can make on his own, such as directing U.S. attorneys not to prosecute certain kinds of low-level drug crimes, or spending money to send more defendants into treatment instead of prison. Almost half of the 219,000 people currently in federal prison are serving time on drug charges.
The fact is the origin of the War on Drugs was rooted in racism and it has always been carried out in a way that disproportionately hurts minorities has been well documented for year. It is noteworthy when the top law enforcement official in the country publicly acknowledges it.
I sadly don’t expect these new proposals from Holder to diverge dramatically from the rather poor way the Obama administration has handled the issue of drug policy over the past four years. The administration has often talked about a new approach, but their actual use of resources hasn’t changed significantly. When the rubber meets the road the administration has not normally lived up to its promises on this issue. The aggressive actions towards medical marijuana dispensaries are just one example.
Still this rhetorical shift is a sign of improvement in its own right. Whenever the person charged with carrying out the drug war is publicly admitting it has serious problems, it is a real sign that reformers are successfully changing the public narrative. Admitting there is a problem is the first small step towards actually solving it.
-------------------- “I read somewhere that 77 per cent of all the mentally ill live in poverty. Actually, I’m more intrigued by the 23 per cent who are apparently doing quite well for themselves.” ~ St. Jerome of Marin
the bus come by & i got on, that's when it all began
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luvdemshrooms
Two inch dick..but it spins!?


Registered: 11/29/01
Posts: 34,247
Loc: Lost In Space
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Re: Attorney General Eric Holder Acknowledges that the War on Drugs is Racist [Re: leon trout]
#18674477 - 08/07/13 04:57 PM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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This would be more impressive if Holder didn't see just about everything as racist.
Well... that and all those dispensary raids.
-------------------- You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for that my dear friend is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. ~ Adrian Rogers
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LuSiD enthusiast
Stranger

Registered: 03/14/13
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Last seen: 5 years, 1 month
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Re: Attorney General Eric Holder Acknowledges that the War on Drugs is Racist [Re: luvdemshrooms]
#18674629 - 08/07/13 05:30 PM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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I bet the solution is to just arrest more white people.
-------------------- I'm addicted to coke, weed, booze, ludes and speed. Not LSD, you can't get addicted to LSD, it was built by scientists. I ain't got no demons that gonna get woke. In erowid we trust. Just take your damn pills and don't ask any questions, you'll be fine.
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qman
Stranger

Registered: 12/06/06
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Re: Attorney General Eric Holder Acknowledges that the War on Drugs is Racist [Re: leon trout]
#18674863 - 08/07/13 06:20 PM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
leon trout said: Eric Holder Acknowledges that the War on Drugs is Racist
In a interview with NPR Eric Holder offered some real criticism of our failed War on Drugs. From NPR:
Quote:
Quote:
“The war on drugs is now 30, 40 years old,” Holder said. “There have been a lot of unintended consequences. There’s been a decimation of certain communities, in particular communities of color.”
That’s one reason why the Justice Department has had a group of lawyers working behind the scenes for months on proposals the attorney general could present as early as next week in a speech to the American Bar Association in San Francisco.
Some of the items are changes Holder can make on his own, such as directing U.S. attorneys not to prosecute certain kinds of low-level drug crimes, or spending money to send more defendants into treatment instead of prison. Almost half of the 219,000 people currently in federal prison are serving time on drug charges.
The fact is the origin of the War on Drugs was rooted in racism and it has always been carried out in a way that disproportionately hurts minorities has been well documented for year. It is noteworthy when the top law enforcement official in the country publicly acknowledges it.
I sadly don’t expect these new proposals from Holder to diverge dramatically from the rather poor way the Obama administration has handled the issue of drug policy over the past four years. The administration has often talked about a new approach, but their actual use of resources hasn’t changed significantly. When the rubber meets the road the administration has not normally lived up to its promises on this issue. The aggressive actions towards medical marijuana dispensaries are just one example.
Still this rhetorical shift is a sign of improvement in its own right. Whenever the person charged with carrying out the drug war is publicly admitting it has serious problems, it is a real sign that reformers are successfully changing the public narrative. Admitting there is a problem is the first small step towards actually solving it.
"rhetorical shift is a sign of improvement in its own right."
Rhetoric is meaningless if not taken into action.
"Whenever the person charged with carrying out the drug war is publicly admitting is has serious problems."
Holder isn't carrying anything out, he's a puppet, nothing more, what he admits to is meaningless.
"reformers are successfully changing the public narrative."
Reformers are not changing a dam thing.
It wouldn't matter if Obama and Holder wanted to change the drug laws, they can't, talk is cheap at the end of the day.
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AbstraKt_I_Am


Registered: 12/21/10
Posts: 1,898
Loc: Abroad.
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Re: Attorney General Eric Holder Acknowledges that the War on Drugs is Racist [Re: LuSiD enthusiast]
#18675273 - 08/07/13 07:50 PM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
LuSiD enthusiast said: I bet the solution is to just arrest more white people. 
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Menalaus
Man of the world


Registered: 08/02/13
Posts: 220
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Re: Attorney General Eric Holder Acknowledges that the War on Drugs is Racist [Re: leon trout]
#18675339 - 08/07/13 08:05 PM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Really doubt they'll change anything soon, but I'm optimistic concerning the state of the war. It appears they might be backing down from my point of view, but from the time they would make that decision it would take years to unwind the whole thing without really really shitty PR
Speculation
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SCleROTiUM_LICK
ResearchedFiction Writer


Registered: 11/08/06
Posts: 884
Last seen: 4 years, 9 months
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Re: Attorney General Eric Holder Acknowledges that the War on Drugs is Racist [Re: Menalaus]
#18675484 - 08/07/13 08:36 PM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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You never know.
After all, the Justice Department is FINALLY pursuing charges against the Big Banks for mortgage securities fraud leading up to the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
And you probably thought that this would never happen either.
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qman
Stranger

Registered: 12/06/06
Posts: 34,927
Last seen: 1 hour, 11 minutes
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Re: Attorney General Eric Holder Acknowledges that the War on Drugs is Racist [Re: SCleROTiUM_LICK]
#18675647 - 08/07/13 09:24 PM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
SCleROTiUM_LICK said: You never know.
After all, the Justice Department is FINALLY pursuing charges against the Big Banks for mortgage securities fraud leading up to the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
And you probably thought that this would never happen either.
Big deal, the "Big Banks" have been charged with various types of fraud the last 5 years, they pay the small fines and continue with another fraudulent act.
Who do you think brings the charges against the banks? The very system that is selling you the idea that Washington is getting tough on Wall Street, but guess what, Wall Street and Washington are one of the same, the charges are a political scam, nothing more.
Has one banker gone to jail since the financial crisis started in 2007? No, and that is not going to change.
Changing the "war on drugs" and "getting tough on Wall Street" are both the same, pure bullshit.
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4HO-DMT


Registered: 01/11/11
Posts: 5,073
Loc: County Line Road
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Re: Attorney General Eric Holder Acknowledges that the War on Drugs is Racist [Re: leon trout]
#18675769 - 08/07/13 09:54 PM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
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Sure, I could acknowledge that smoking tobacco is bad for me. But, at the end of the day, if I don't stop, acknowledgement doesn't mean shit.
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