CNN on ending war on drugs

[Vote Waterman 2028]

Today on cnn with Rick Sanchez (usually can't stand him), he had an interview with an el paso councilmen on what would happen if we ended the war on drugs. Rick actually had a positive tone towards this idea. Could this be the beginning of the media push for the end of the war on drugs ?! Maybe they are finally waking up, the culture has changed majorly in the past 10 years. I know many adults, and accomplished individuals that smoke weed or do cocaine occasionally. Should be intresting to see considering how much money it generates per year, and how much our country needs capital at the moment.

[HOLLYWOOD]

Obviously, CNN's behind the scenes staff are reading the Liberty Forrest/RPF. Ventura, and Liberty forums...

Maybe they have some, SOME, decent people there!

[socialize_me]

It might be possible considering Obama is an ex-cocaine user and a heavy chain smoker. He tokes it up nightly.

[Wendi]

Maybe he's not-so "ex"

[Vote Waterman 2028]

well his new efficiency expert that he appointed to the new positiion today should notice that the War on Drugs is one of if not the most ineffective programs and that it should be cut. Not only that but it can bring about hundreds of billions in revenue each year. Should be interesting how these things change with the economic crisis. I am not for legalizing lethal drugs though, such as heroin, meth, etc. I am for a war on those drugs, to an extent.

[surf]

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ed..._of_drug_czar/

REPRESENTATIVE Jim Ramstad, a Republican from Minnesota, is said to be a candidate for drug czar in the Obama administration. This would take bipartisanship one step too far, at the expense of public health.

Ramstad, who is retiring after 18 years in office, gets high marks for working with a Democratic colleague, Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, to require insurers to cover mental health and addiction treatment (the two men are alcohol recovery partners). But Ramstad has also voted repeatedly against federal funding for needle exchange programs for drug users to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS. Washington's paralysis on this issue goes back to when President Clinton let his drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, sabotage funding efforts by Donna Shalala, then secretary of Health and Human Services. McCaffrey hyperbolically called clean-needle programs "magnets for all social ills." In 2002, Clinton admitted that "I was wrong" not to lift the funding ban.

A study this fall in The Lancet found that only 1.5 percent of injecting drug users in Australia have HIV, compared with 16 percent in the United States. "That's largely because we acted very quickly in the 1980s to implement methadone programs and needle exchange programs when other countries like the US were dragging their heels," study author Bradley Mathers of Australia's National Drug and Alcohol Research Center told the Associated Press. Anthony Fauci, director for infectious disease at the National Institutes of Health, flatly says, "needle exchange programs work. There's no doubt about that."

The Centers for Disease Control says the national HIV infection rate is now 40 percent higher than previously thought. Injection drug use causes 12 percent of new infections. Obama, a supporter of needle exchange, has no time to thread the needle with his drug czar.

From what little i know about this guy - he seems to be a drug warrior. Now that's change you can believe in....

[schiffstudent]

Should be intresting to see considering how much money it generates per year, and how much our country needs capital at the moment.

Also our country is in desperate need of a new generation of junkies that will ruin the lives of themselves and their families, I'm sure ending the war on drugs will help with that. If I was a person of power in the NWO, I would say that legalizing drugs would be the best thing I could do to weed out the the weak of society. Eugenics at it's best. Keeping a society drugged is also a great way of making them not aware of what is happening to them, essentially turning them into sheep.

[kathy88]

Also our country is in desperate need of a new generation of junkies that will ruin the lives of themselves and their families, I'm sure ending the war on drugs will help with that. If I was a person of power in the NWO, I would say that legalizing drugs would be the best thing I could do to weed out the the weak of society. Eugenics at it's best. Keeping a society drugged is also a great way of making them not aware of what is happening to them, essentially turning them into sheep.

Puhlease. Most addicts start using in their teens and early twenties, and a huge percentage of THEM would tell you that it was because of the "taboo" attached. It's a way to stick it to their parents, teachers and "the man." If drugs were decriminalized that attraction would be gone. You think addicts go out and vote? These aren't sheep.

[ronpaulhawaii]

Also our country is in desperate need of a new generation of junkies that will ruin the lives of themselves and their families, I'm sure ending the war on drugs will help with that. If I was a person of power in the NWO, I would say that legalizing drugs would be the best thing I could do to weed out the the weak of society. Eugenics at it's best. Keeping a society drugged is also a great way of making them not aware of what is happening to them, essentially turning them into sheep.

Sheep like these ?

http://www.erowid.org/culture/charac...drug_use.shtml

[schiffstudent]

If drugs were decriminalized that attraction would be gone. You think addicts go out and vote? These aren't sheep.

Decriminalization would make drugs undesirable? Are you serious? After prohibition, didn't more people drink? How can you say the same won't happen with heroine or cocaine. People do hard drugs for all kinds of reasons to change their state of mind, not just to stick it to their parents. There will always be people out there that will say that "I wont get addicted" and they will try it, get addicted and ruin there lives, period. Now if your advocating legalizing pot, I'm for that, anything else is stupid.

[Danke]

Sheep like these ?

http://www.erowid.org/culture/charac...drug_use.shtml

Reptilians do drugs.

[MRoCkEd]

Decriminalization would make drugs undesirable? Are you serious? After prohibition, didn't more people drink? How can you say the same won't happen with heroine or cocaine. People do hard drugs for all kinds of reasons to change their state of mind, not just to stick it to their parents. There will always be people out there that will say that "I wont get addicted" and they will try it, get addicted and ruin there lives, period. Now if your advocating legalizing pot, I'm for that, anything else is stupid.

So you believe the government has the right to lock you in prison for making a personal decision to put something in your own body?

[schiffstudent]

Sheep like these ?

http://www.erowid.org/culture/charac...drug_use.shtml

The people here tried those things, most of them didn't live on them. I've used most of those drugs on their too, and if they weren't illegal at the time and I had a ready supply of them at all times then who knows where I would be today. I got to believe though that I wouldn't be as accomplished I as I am right now without them.

[schiffstudent]

So you believe the government has the right to lock you in prison for making a personal decision to put something in your own body?

For pot and peyote no, anything else yes, because those substances grab hold of people's mind, can make them addicts and destroy them. What's Ron Paul's position on legalizing narcotics??

[dannno]

Also our country is in desperate need of a new generation of junkies that will ruin the lives of themselves and their families, I'm sure ending the war on drugs will help with that. If I was a person of power in the NWO, I would say that legalizing drugs would be the best thing I could do to weed out the the weak of society. Eugenics at it's best. Keeping a society drugged is also a great way of making them not aware of what is happening to them, essentially turning them into sheep.

What makes you think that drug legalization will increase usage?

[dannno]

The people here tried those things, most of them didn't live on them. I've used most of those drugs on their too, and if they weren't illegal at the time and I had a ready supply of them at all times then who knows where I would be today. I got to believe though that I wouldn't be as accomplished I as I am right now without them.

Why do you think there would be a ready supply of most of these substances if the profit margins were significantly decreased?

[schiffstudent]

Danke, in 1981 the movie Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams does indeed show us that reptilians like pot.

[RSLudlum]

Decriminalization would make drugs undesirable? Are you serious? After prohibition, didn't more people drink? How can you say the same won't happen with heroine or cocaine. People do hard drugs for all kinds of reasons to change their state of mind, not just to stick it to their parents. There will always be people out there that will say that "I wont get addicted" and they will try it, get addicted and ruin there lives, period. Now if your advocating legalizing pot, I'm for that, anything else is stupid.

So you're for criminalizing cigarettes? I know alot of people addicted to cigarettes and alot of them have done the 'hard' drugs and didn't get hooked on them. I used to smoke pot, drop acid, and rolled plenty in my youth, then I stopped no problem at all; haven't touched any of it in 12 years even though I know where to get them.

[surf]

my understanding is that throughout history, addiction rates have run around 1-2%, whether or not prohibition exists. As Harry Browne would point out - at the turn of the 20th century you could buy heroin at the drug store and i believe Coca Cola contained cocaine.

it's really all about personal responsibility. as someone residing near the heroin capital of the world (according to Rolling Stone magazine), i can honestly say that - while provided the opportunity - i have never considering trying a drug that had, as i understood it, the potential to be addictive (with the exception of alcohol).

the assumption that decriminalizing drugs would lead to a nation/world full of addicts is flawed.

[MRoCkEd]

Criminilization does not stop people from using drugs.
It does waste resources, increase crime, and make using drugs more dangerous, however.

[schiffstudent]

Why do you think there would be a ready supply of most of these substances if the profit margins were significantly decreased?

I don't see your reasoning, we could be in the 1920's talking right now about alcohol and what your saying wouldn't pan out. Many people opened their own distilleries and started making delicious beverages. The profits weren't as big as before prohibition I bet per liter of alcohol, but the sells quantity made up for it.

[powerofreason]

Decriminalization would make drugs undesirable? Are you serious? After prohibition, didn't more people drink? How can you say the same won't happen with heroine or cocaine. People do hard drugs for all kinds of reasons to change their state of mind, not just to stick it to their parents. There will always be people out there that will say that "I wont get addicted" and they will try it, get addicted and ruin there lives, period. Now if your advocating legalizing pot, I'm for that, anything else is stupid.

How ignorant of you to suggest that all drug use except weed is bad for you. Drug addiction does not have to mean your life is ruined. Your implying that drugs would still be expensive in a free society, which is wrong. They will be very, very cheap. It takes 10 square miles of poppy fields to feed the entire American appetite for heroin. And they grow practically anywhere on the planet. Furthermore, pharmaceutically pure heroin has no negative effect on any organ system of the body. Today, its tough to tell how pure your heroin is greatly increasing risk of overdose and putting crappy adulterants into your body.

Cocaine is bad for your heart, its not something you want to do all the time. All drugs are different. The next step after ending the drug war is ending discrimination against responsible drug users.

[dannno]

For pot and peyote no, anything else yes, because those substances grab hold of people's mind, can make them addicts and destroy them. What's Ron Paul's position on legalizing narcotics??

He wants to end the war on drugs and let the states handle it. On the state level, he believes that individuals have the right to make their own decisions regarding what they put into their bodies.

Do you REALLY think you would be a drug addict if drugs were legal? I mean, I've tried addictive drugs, then had access to these addictive drugs and still had no desire to buy them when they were available because I realized how dangerous they were. Even if people were giving out these drugs for free on the streets, I still wouldn't take them. For one thing, I have access to safer alternatives such as cannabis, why would I take something dangerous? If you legalize drugs, you would be surprised how over time people will gravitate towards the safer, more natural substances... more often in their natural form. Ancient people who chewed on coca leaves don't end up shooting up cocaine, drugs become more potent and compact due to the war on drugs.

[powerofreason]

Good god narcotics are not bad for you! Impure and expensive narcotics are.

[schiffstudent]

the assumption that decriminalizing drugs would lead to a nation/world full of addicts is flawed.

The assumption that you would make society better is probably the dumbest argument I have ever heard. Those societies don't exist in the world for a reason, it never works, just like communism. Wow, I had no idea there will so many people on here that want all drugs legalized. The again, please someone answer what is Ron Paul's position on legalizing narcotics??

[dannno]

I don't see your reasoning, we could be in the 1920's talking right now about alcohol and what your saying wouldn't pan out. Many people opened their own distilleries and started making delicious beverages. The profits weren't as big as before prohibition I bet per liter of alcohol, but the sells quantity made up for it.

Where's the moonshine?

My point is that when the profit margin for drugs go down and people move to safer substances, many of the more dangerous drugs will likely disappear or be difficult to find because the profit margin has gone down so far it's not worth selling, and access to safer substances will increase and people will prefer those.

[devil21]

The assumption that you would make society better is probably the dumbest argument I have ever heard. Those societies don't exist in the world for a reason, it never works, just like communism. Wow, I had no idea there will so many people on here that want all drugs legalized. The again, please someone answer what is Ron Paul's position on legalizing narcotics??

Easy one. It's a state issue and the feds should not be involved. He is also pro-medical marijuana and pro-liberty, which means people are free to put whatever they wish into their bodies as long as they don't harm anyone else. Makes a hell of a lot of sense to me.

[schiffstudent]

He wants to end the war on drugs and let the states handle it. On the state level, he believes that individuals have the right to make their own decisions regarding what they put into their bodies.

Do you REALLY think you would be a drug addict if drugs were legal? I mean, I've tried addictive drugs, then had access to these addictive drugs and still had no desire to buy them when they were available because I realized how dangerous they were. Even if people were giving out these drugs for free on the streets, I still wouldn't take them. For one thing, I have access to safer alternatives such as cannabis, why would I take something dangerous? If you legalize drugs, you would be surprised how over time people will gravitate towards the safer, more natural substances... more often in their natural form. Ancient people who chewed on coca leaves don't end up shooting up cocaine, drugs become more potent and compact due to the war on drugs.

Interesting, this is the first I have heard that argument on having the states handle it. As for me, yes there was a time where if I had an endless supply of coke I could have messed my life up. You don't have a weekend crack addict for a reason you know. $#@! has hands that will grab hold of you and destroy you.

[dannno]

The assumption that you would make society better is probably the dumbest argument I have ever heard. Those societies don't exist in the world for a reason, it never works, just like communism.

What are you talking about? Drugs were legal in the US before the 1930s, less alcohol prohibition.

Wow, I had no idea there will so many people on here that want all drugs legalized. The again, please someone answer what is Ron Paul's position on legalizing narcotics??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8S8N2OG7sU

Can somebody make sure this is the debate where he also talks about the death penalty? I can't youtube at work and have to find these via google.. If it isn't PLEASE post the answer from the debate where he talks about the death penalty afterwards.

[devil21]

Interesting, this is the first I have heard that argument on having the states handle it. As for me, yes there was a time where if I had an endless supply of coke I could have messed my life up. You don't have a weekend crack addict for a reason you know. $#@! has hands that will grab hold of you and destroy you.

If thats the first you've heard of "state's rights" then you should brush up on your Constitution knowledge and become a "paulstudent" as well as a "schiffstudent".