invite responseComments 1 - 7 of 7 Search these comments
Done!
2011 Jul 4, 12:16am
Of course it works, but it would also defund the Regan regime oppression machine relics.
We need the DEA, DHS, ICE and any other Federal police agency that is not the FBI like we need a Black Republican president. If the FBI is incapable of doing their damn Job(which is enforcing Federal laws), then creating more Gestapo Popo positions isn't going to help.
MisdemeanorRebel
2011 Jul 4, 1:29pm
The Enforcement Agencies would lose all their cool clothes and equipment and overtime pay. They would spend every last dollar lobbying against any kind of decriminalization. So would all the fundy groups that depend on state/local/private donations to run their missionary programs.
The war on drugs is a jobs program...period. Every other rationalization for its continuation is full of holes. The last pillar standing is the secruity state jobs the war on drugs creates. Oh, and pushing up the price of widely known narcotics. That may be a pillar too.
kentm, We have a similar experiment going on in California. In November 2000, California voters passed Proposition 36, which was enacted into law as the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (SACPA). Less than 1/3 third of the individuals who enter treatment actually manage to complete it. That said, an evaluation by UCLA shows positive benefits (PDF Alert) of the program. It looks like Prop 36 funding has taken a beating in the latest budget battles, though.
simchaland
2011 Jul 6, 7:49am
If you guys want to do something about the stupidity that infests our drug policies please check out this site:
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
A representative came to one of our Berkeley Citywide substance use treatment providers trainings a while back. I had found LEAP before that but I was especially impressed with their representative and what he had to say.
He was in law enforcement and had fought the "War on Drugs" until he finally realized through his work that the "War on Drugs" was causing harm instead of helping our issues around substance use in this country.
The website talks about the experience of others in law enforcement who have been on the front lines of the "War on Drugs" who saw first hand the harm that our nation's drug policies and laws cause.
So, there are people in law enforcement who are honest about the damage our drug laws and policies are inflicting on our society. Most of the people in prisons are there on substance use/possession convictions. It makes no sense to lock up people who have issues with using psychoactive substances. They aren't criminals. Many of them have problems that would best be addressed by education and treatment.
kentm, We have a similar experiment going on in California...
Thanks for the pointer, I didn't know.
Speaking of threats to freedom, I'd also cast a vote for authoritarianism and policies based on ignorance & poorly researched ideas, but that's just easy for me to say...
Portugal drug law show results ten years on, experts say
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g9C6x99EnFVdFuXw_B8pvDRzLqcA?docId=CNG.e740b6d0077ba8c28f6d1dd931c6f679.5e1
LISBON — Health experts in Portugal said Friday that Portugal's decision 10 years ago to decriminalise drug use and treat addicts rather than punishing them is an experiment that has worked.
"There is no doubt that the phenomenon of addiction is in decline in Portugal," said Joao Goulao, President of the Institute of Drugs and Drugs Addiction, a press conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the law.