|
 Quake3
Total Carbohydrate
 
Registered: 08/31/06
Posts: 924
Loc: Relatively New York
Last seen: 12 years, 10 months
|
 Is The US Winning The War On Drugs? [VIDEO] 
#7554477 - 10/24/07 11:00 AM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Video on the site: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/65938/
Should drugs like marijuana, heroin, and cocaine be legal? Watch the fireworks as Ethan Nadelmann, author of Think Again: Drugs and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance clashes with David Murray, chief scientist at the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy.
"We are making major progress," argues Murray, adding, "We and the rest of the civilized world has made this decision: This must be fought." But the drug war is "a long, slow, devastating failure" that is as bad as Vietnam and Iraq, Nadelmann counters.
|
trippindad82
Trusted Cultivator of Trich
Registered: 01/07/07
Posts: 1,087
Loc: down, down the hole
Last seen: 11 years, 1 month
|
Re: Is The US Winning The War On Drugs? [VIDEO] [Re: Quake3]
#7554624 - 10/24/07 11:44 AM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
I'd have to say that guy is completely out of check with reality. I find it interesting that in every drug bust that happens in my area, the police brag about reducing the supply. I never have trouble getting it. Maybe one friend won't have it, but another will, they just interrupted one supply chain and another gets increased business. Fucking political dip shits. They ignore reality. Alcohol and tobacco alone cause more damage to American families and lives than drugs ever will. Those who are going to become heroin addicts and meth addicts are going to do so either way. No one forces them to become addicts. It was a decision they made themselves. I'm tired of seeing my taxpayer money go to support an ignorant policy. If they legalize, there might be a slight surge in use, but those who don't want to or don't like it still aren't going to do it. It is not going to be some mass addiction bogeyman like they want us to believe. It's a choice. I can legally drink. I choose not to because I don't like the way alcohol makes me feel and I don't like what it does to my body. It's a personal choice, not a govt's choice. Fuck them.
I also don't believe the "We and the rest of the civilized world has made this decision: This must be fought." statement. That is bullshit. That is a decision that was made by policy makers and propagandized to the people, and those who hadn't tried it believed the govt's story. They were scared of the bogeyman. The bogeyman was going to smoke the herb and come rape your white wife and daughter. Stop it before it happens.
I think someone who pulls the strings realizes the potential of these so called heinous drugs, as these drugs have been tested extensively and their values and properties are known. I think that someone realizes a society who has their third eye opened by these substances is a society that cannot be controlled and led around by their cock/clit rings. I think that someone realizes that alcohol helps to keep that third eye closed and a society at bay.
--------------------
Trying to explain a journey to someone who has never experienced it is like trying to explain what a zebra looks like to blind person who has never seen a horse.
^^^The above matter may be a complete fantasy that I concocted out of possible boredom.^^^
--------------------------------------
|
 DebuteMachine
Registered: 09/29/06
Posts: 6,457
|
Re: Is The US Winning The War On Drugs? [VIDEO] [Re: trippindad82]
#7554913 - 10/24/07 01:04 PM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
The Gov't has succsessfully made me a self supplier. Who needs to buy when you can get all the materials for cheaper?
|
mindspin
Heirophant
Registered: 10/23/07
Posts: 96
Last seen: 12 years, 4 months
|
Re: Is The US Winning The War On Drugs? [VIDEO] [Re: trippindad82]
#7554945 - 10/24/07 01:13 PM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
As long as people can profit from drugs, as it is an easy and sure-fire way of making money, it will always be an issue. As soon as you legalize it, you can regulate it and make it as safe as it can possibly be.
Above everything else though, most of these people are not criminals. The nature of the drug and the addiction can turn them into criminals though, and thus these people must be helped and the root of the problem must be analyzed. 7 Million americans are in the prison system of the United States, how many of those do you think are convicted of non-violent drug charges?
I smoke weed every day, and I've tripped four times in my life (shrooms only) and I plan to use them more. I'm not a criminal, I go to school, I have a job, I love my girlfriend, my family, my cat. I'm a functional human being, I can engage in conversation and provoke others' thought, and I am still quite capable of learning. Let's roll out some fucking progression, I say, and give the people what they want because after all, the government is there to protect the people, not put them away.
|
Quake3
Total Carbohydrate
Registered: 08/31/06
Posts: 924
Loc: Relatively New York
Last seen: 12 years, 10 months
|
Re: Is The US Winning The War On Drugs? [VIDEO] [Re: trippindad82]
#7554960 - 10/24/07 01:17 PM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
trippindad82 said:
I think someone who pulls the strings realizes the potential of these so called heinous drugs, as these drugs have been tested extensively and their values and properties are known. I think that someone realizes a society who has their third eye opened by these substances is a society that cannot be controlled and led around by their cock/clit rings. I think that someone realizes that alcohol helps to keep that third eye closed and a society at bay.
I'm always wondering why exactly drugs are illegal. I believe that it's due to a combination of factors. I'm weary of any response that tries to simplify such a complex problem down to one or two possible causes. For example, I don't believe Cannabis is illegal just because certain parties/individuals/corporations profit heavily from its illegality.
I don't believe that Cannabis is illegal to suppress the people's mind like you stated. I believe that if Cannabis is legalized, most people won't benefit from it spiritually in the same way many of us do here. Drug users already have their third eye open, and that's why they choose to use drugs and not buy the government's bullshit.
I personally find epiphanies and insights in everything I do, whether it's alcohol, opiates, a psychedelic, riding my bike or losing my temper at somebody. There's always a lesson to learn and new insights to be discovered, and I make it my duty to learn as much I can from every experience, and that's why I choose to experience new things whenever possible (obviously doing my research beforehand). With that comes my drug usage. However, I know that most people don't learn anything from drugs, even psychedelics. I do agree that spirituality would increase if psychedelics are made available, but I have little faith in most people. If I give an uptight, naive friend shrooms, he has the experience and then says "Shrooms are fun!" and that's it. Whereas another friend who has done research and seeks shrooms out of curiosity, will get a vastly different experience and a different outlook on life. It doesn't have to be spiritual (I don't use the term in the new-agey sense or in relation to religion or Gods), but can just manifest itself in the form of epiphanies about sociology, human behavior, psychology, etc...
Anyway! There might be specific reasons drugs were banned in the first place, but those reasons can't be reversed that easily (or quickly, rather). Religious people think drugs are against their religion and are therefore against them. People in general think drugs are bad and won't support/vote for anything pro-drugs. Politicians work in such a way that they aren't going to do anything that people don't support. In that sense, it really is the people's choice that decides what goes on in the government. Too many huge corporations would lose money if drugs were legal (but many corporations would benefit from legalization). There is a strong ethical and moral objection towards recreational drugs, mainly because the general public is ignorant.
Ultimately, they won't be legalized until the public is more informed on the truth and is more accepting of drug use. This is slow and won't happen in our lifetime.. although the Internet seems to be speeding things up.
I spend lots of time on this forum and other sites where the general consensus is anti-prohibition, but when I get up and out of my house, I'm always a little surprised to remember that most people around me still think Cannabis is "evil" and "kills brain cells." These are people who drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes. Even most pot smokers don't know shit about pot. When we all come together here on this forum, it's nice to think we're a big group, but we're a tiny minority, spread out thin all over the world. It's sad. Like somebody replied in another post, all of us drug users should pitch in money and buy our own island.
|
moon_glue
Orwell's Post9/11 Era
Registered: 01/20/07
Posts: 2,264
Loc: Earth, today...
Last seen: 9 years, 1 month
|
Re: Is The US Winning The War On Drugs? [VIDEO] [Re: Quake3]
#7555187 - 10/24/07 02:28 PM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Statistics are useless, i wasnt asked by anyone if i used drugs. so how MADE UP the numbers?
that fat guy is lost.
|
elmanimal
Woodsman
Registered: 11/15/06
Posts: 180
Loc: Texas
Last seen: 1 year, 3 months
|
Re: Is The US Winning The War On Drugs? [VIDEO] [Re: mindspin]
#7557118 - 10/24/07 09:27 PM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
mindspin said:
I smoke weed every day, and I've tripped four times in my life (shrooms only) and I plan to use them more. I'm not a criminal, I go to school, I have a job, I love my girlfriend, my family, my cat. I'm a functional human being, I can engage in conversation and provoke others' thought, and I am still quite capable of learning. Let's roll out some fucking progression, I say, and give the people what they want because after all, the government is there to protect the people, not put them away.
If you live in the US you ARE a criminal.
and so am I
--------------------
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, only then will there be peace - Jimi Hendrix
|
highdroponics 
Professional Deadhead
Registered: 11/14/06
Posts: 5,574
Loc: Earth, Milky Way Galaxy 
Last seen: 11 years, 2 months
|
Re: Is The US Winning The War On Drugs? [VIDEO] [Re: elmanimal]
#7557384 - 10/24/07 10:31 PM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
we need a legit journalist to truly examine the war on drugs, what the costs are, how many peoples lives are ruined every second, and how it would be if ALL drugs were decriminalized, taxed, and regulated, just the same as tobacco and alcohol. then he/she needs to interview drug prohibitionists AND drug law reform specialists(to get a feel for both sides of the story) and put the documentary on national television for all of us to see.
what our problem is here is that our beloved government has put a censorship on drug law reform on television, our nation is not allowed to see both sides of the story, only one, this is called fascism- "a governmental system forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism/discrimination" and is also going against our rights to freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
--------------------
Dr  says to stop trying to treat the side-effects of big government and focus on the core issues. End the Federal Reserve/audit the gold reserves at Fort Knox, abolish the IRS, end all wars and occupancies, stop the building of an empire that will inevitably fail, and cut all unconstitutional federal programs. Put the power back in the peoples' hands by ending this nanny-state.
|
a_guy_named_ai
Stranger
Registered: 09/24/07
Posts: 767
Last seen: 15 years, 10 months
|
Re: Is The US Winning The War On Drugs? [VIDEO] [Re: Quake3]
#7557404 - 10/24/07 10:38 PM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Excuse me can you please repost the link, the link doesn't work.
|
shnoob
AprenticePsychonaut
Registered: 10/15/06
Posts: 71
Loc: ATL for break...
Last seen: 10 years, 9 months
|
Re: Is The US Winning The War On Drugs? [VIDEO] [Re: a_guy_named_ai]
#7557557 - 10/24/07 11:37 PM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
--------------------
"Load universe into cannon. Aim at brain. Fire."
-Alan Watts
|
a_guy_named_ai
Stranger
Registered: 09/24/07
Posts: 767
Last seen: 15 years, 10 months
|
Re: Is The US Winning The War On Drugs? [VIDEO] [Re: shnoob]
#7589447 - 11/02/07 08:57 PM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Oh right, so I finally watched all of them. I had to get new speakers..
This arguement is so frustrating because really the pro-legalization movement are really fighting against themselves because they want to lump all drugs in one basket. But that's not reasonable.
They want to lump crack, heroin, meth, and marijuana all into one basket, and then (other) pro legalization proponents would like to argue about cannabis being in a schedule too high for it's apparent danger?
I think the pro-legalization guy was really going good, expect for a couple points. The government guy was talking about how drugs like crack and heroin, how it's not an option to legalize them, giving up fighting them would be worse than continuing to fight because these drugs are not just a danger to the person using them, but also a danger to those around them and ultimately a danger to society. But then how can this person not see how these drugs that are causing so much harm were originally created by the drug industry. In any case, we can't just legalize drugs like heroin and meth because these drugs really do pose a threat to everyone, not just the user.
And for this reason I also have to concur with another point the drug official made, that for this reason we cannot promote "harm reduction" policies because they are not able to quarantine drug use of these dangerous drugs. And these drugs are unethical for the government to condone, let alone offer programs to sustain a person's drug use.
This one of the reasons why I am so strongly vocal about synthetic drugs, and I wish that other people would recognize it too. If people would recognise it and realize if we promote natural drugs and make the distinction we could overcome the battle so much easier. These pharma drugs are so much more harmful generally then natural drugs, and what happens when more and more modern drugs come out? Then society and government must offer them a safe haven for them too, because obviously they wouldn't be discriminating against harmful drugs anymore.
Not to say that I don't fully support a person being able to ingest what they want into their own body, what I'm saying is their has to be limits, because their really are drugs out their that can damage society permanently. And the best way to help fight the drug war, is to attack the greedy and abominable pharma industry, and show how much more safe and better natural drugs are.
Because ultimately, if we don't make the distinction, then the government won't either, and they'll just lump peyote, cannabis, opium, mushrooms etc. in with everything else and then that ruins the image of natural drugs also!
P.s. this sierra nevada harvest fresh hop ale is not too bad.
Edited by jonathan_206 (11/02/07 09:00 PM)
|
|
Threaded
Previous
Index
Next
Edit 
Reply 
Twirling
motaman
TinMan