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trispear
08-25-2007, 12:20 AM
An old case, but when I often say the government takes away rights left and right these days, people often respond - "Oh yeah, were your rights taken away? Are you in jail for no reason? Show me someone whose rights were taken away!"

Rather than argue against that ignorant and stupid counterargument, here is one such group of people whose rights were sacrificed in the "war on drugs":

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A10762

It's a good example for others.

LizF
08-25-2007, 02:03 AM
Wow...what a fascinating, tragic, and infuriating story. I hope this man will be able to get on with his life, although his brother, sadly, had to die in prison, partly as the result of medical neglect. :mad:

So many cases of violent criminals who are out in a comparatively short time, but these guys get these ridiculous sentences-- for what?


I did find this quote interesting:

"The agency's aggressiveness showed how far the pendulum had swung since the heyday of the marijuana-reform movement, a decade earlier. At the close of the '70s, 11 states -- following the advice of the American Medical Association and even then-President Jimmy Carter -- had decriminalized simple possession. In 1981, the first bill to legalize medical-marijuana use was introduced in Congress. Its lead sponsor was a young, conservative Georgia lawmaker named Newt Gingrich."

(emphasis mine)


Also telling:

"If anything, the War on Drugs has only built momentum through the political backing of such powerful interest groups as prison guard unions; the billion-dollar drug-testing industry; private prison construction and management companies; and, of course, the DEA, which commands a $1.8-billion budget and has, in the past 30 years, more than tripled the number of special agents on its payroll.

Over the last decade, drug convictions have accounted for more than 80 percent of the growth of the federal prison population, so it's hardly surprising that, as the drug war swirled outside, amassing new victims, Steve Tucker was essentially forgotten."


Hmmm....follow the money. :rolleyes: :eek:

noxagol
08-25-2007, 05:56 AM
You counter with saying, a law that has the potential to violate your rights already has just by being in existence because the abuse is possible.

Wendi
08-25-2007, 08:38 AM
The so-called "war on drugs" is as much of a farce as the "war on terror." We aren't really trying to win either, but we're destroying a lot of lives in the process.

lucius
08-25-2007, 09:45 AM
"This isn't Nazi Germany," he says.

Yep, and that was in 1992.

Just remember that in the 12 years that George Bush senior acted as Drug Czar/President, drug importation of debilitating drugs (heroin & cocaine) went up 1000%.

This action was like market protection for one of the stable pillars financing Wall Street--drug importation and the financing shenanigans connected with the laundering.

These 'wars on [insert ethereal term here]' are sheer propaganda genius, but by their results, it is quite self-evident: it is nothing more than an extension of class warfare.

Please see 'Dark Alliance' by Gary Webb,

"In July 1995, San Jose Mercury-News reporter Gary Webb found the Big One--the blockbuster story every journalist secretly dreams about--without even looking for it. A simple phone call concerning an unexceptional pending drug trial turned into a massive conspiracy involving the Nicaraguan Contra rebels, L.A. and Bay Area crack cocaine dealers, and the Central Intelligence Agency. For several years during the 1980s, Webb discovered, Contra elements shuttled thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States, with the profits going toward the funding of Contra rebels attempting a counterrevolution in their Nicaraguan homeland. Even more chilling, Webb quickly realized, was that the massive drug-dealing operation had the implicit approval--and occasional outright support--of the CIA, the very organization entrusted to prevent illegal drugs from being brought into the United States..."

More required reading for all Americans. Those Reaganistas were something else...

devil21
08-25-2007, 02:11 PM
This still goes on today. There is a hydroponic store in New Orleans/Metarie area that has been exposed as a DEA front recently. The DEA paid the owner $6K to entrap a customer into growing cannabis then turned around and arrested him.

mtmedlin
08-25-2007, 03:02 PM
You want to read a great book with alot of stories that are similar try "It aint nobodys business if I do" its by Peter McWilliams, who is one of my very favorite authors. It was this book that opened my eyes. The funy part is that I had just got done reading Rush's "because I told you so" and my brother said, "If yyou liked that book try this, you should really hate it." I read it and all of a sudden i realized the home that had escaped me. I wasnt a big R republican I was Libertarian republican and have been ever since.