US waves white flag in disastrous 'war on drugs'

[dreamdancer 0]

some good news...

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After 40 years of defeat and failure, America's "war on drugs" is being buried in the same fashion as it was born – amid bloodshed, confusion, corruption and scandal. US agents are being pulled from South America; Washington is putting its narcotics policy under review, and a newly confident region is no longer prepared to swallow its fatal Prohibition error. Indeed, after the expenditure of billions of dollars and the violent deaths of tens of thousands of people, a suitable epitaph for America's longest "war" may well be the plan, in Bolivia, for every family to be given the right to grow coca in its own backyard.

The "war", declared unilaterally throughout the world by Richard Nixon in 1969, is expiring as its strategists start discarding plans that have proved futile over four decades: they are preparing to withdraw their agents from narcotics battlefields from Colombia to Afghanistan and beginning to coach them in the art of trumpeting victory and melting away into anonymous defeat. Not surprisingly, the new strategy is being gingerly aired in the media of the US establishment, from The Wall Street Journal to the Miami Herald.

Prospects in the new decade are thus opening up for vast amounts of useless government expenditure being reassigned to the treatment of addicts instead of their capture and imprisonment. And, no less important, the ever-expanding balloon of corruption that the "war" has brought to heads of government, armies and police forces wherever it has been waged may slowly start to deflate.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-waves-white-flag-in-disastrous-war-on-drugs-1870218.html

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[kallend 2,114]

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some good news...

Quote

After 40 years of defeat and failure, America's "war on drugs" is being buried in the same fashion as it was born – amid bloodshed, confusion, corruption and scandal. US agents are being pulled from South America; Washington is putting its narcotics policy under review, and a newly confident region is no longer prepared to swallow its fatal Prohibition error. Indeed, after the expenditure of billions of dollars and the violent deaths of tens of thousands of people, a suitable epitaph for America's longest "war" may well be the plan, in Bolivia, for every family to be given the right to grow coca in its own backyard.

The "war", declared unilaterally throughout the world by Richard Nixon in 1969, is expiring as its strategists start discarding plans that have proved futile over four decades: they are preparing to withdraw their agents from narcotics battlefields from Colombia to Afghanistan and beginning to coach them in the art of trumpeting victory and melting away into anonymous defeat. Not surprisingly, the new strategy is being gingerly aired in the media of the US establishment, from The Wall Street Journal to the Miami Herald.

Prospects in the new decade are thus opening up for vast amounts of useless government expenditure being reassigned to the treatment of addicts instead of their capture and imprisonment. And, no less important, the ever-expanding balloon of corruption that the "war" has brought to heads of government, armies and police forces wherever it has been waged may slowly start to deflate.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-waves-white-flag-in-disastrous-war-on-drugs-1870218.html

I'll believe it when I see it happen. A lot of people are invested in this idiotic "war".

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[happythoughts 0]

HR 2134

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H.R. 2134 creates a 10-member Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission to provide Congress with a report that reviews U.S. drug policies and makes recommendations on ways to improve them. The bill specifies that the purpose of the commission is to review and evaluate United States illicit drug supply policy, with particular emphasis on international drug policies and programs directed toward the countries of the Western Hemisphere and demand reduction policies and programs. The Commission would identify policy and program options to improve existing international and domestic counternarcotics policy.

It is just another commission that will do another study.
The text does not mention any strategy.

In fact, it seems to refer to S American and the Caribbean as the sources of the drugs. That is the
current program, stopping it as its source.

[piisfish 140]

does that mean we will have better quality, availabilty and prices ?

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[RonD1120 62]

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some good news...

Quote

After 40 years of defeat and failure, America's "war on drugs" is being buried in the same fashion as it was born – amid bloodshed, confusion, corruption and scandal. US agents are being pulled from South America; Washington is putting its narcotics policy under review, and a newly confident region is no longer prepared to swallow its fatal Prohibition error. Indeed, after the expenditure of billions of dollars and the violent deaths of tens of thousands of people, a suitable epitaph for America's longest "war" may well be the plan, in Bolivia, for every family to be given the right to grow coca in its own backyard.

The "war", declared unilaterally throughout the world by Richard Nixon in 1969, is expiring as its strategists start discarding plans that have proved futile over four decades: they are preparing to withdraw their agents from narcotics battlefields from Colombia to Afghanistan and beginning to coach them in the art of trumpeting victory and melting away into anonymous defeat. Not surprisingly, the new strategy is being gingerly aired in the media of the US establishment, from The Wall Street Journal to the Miami Herald.

Prospects in the new decade are thus opening up for vast amounts of useless government expenditure being reassigned to the treatment of addicts instead of their capture and imprisonment. And, no less important, the ever-expanding balloon of corruption that the "war" has brought to heads of government, armies and police forces wherever it has been waged may slowly start to deflate.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-waves-white-flag-in-disastrous-war-on-drugs-1870218.html

I have been involved in world of substance use disorder all my adult life. I do not see where government funding has stemmed the tide of abuse and addiction. On the other side, I have seen the predictable tragedy of untimely death through suicide and murder, devastated lives in poverty and sickness, as a direct result using mood altering chemicals.

If the flood gates open it will not be good news. Prepare to see what I have seen.

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[Niki1 1]

[DARK 0]

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If the flood gates open it will not be good news. Prepare to see what I have seen.

the flood gates have never been shut thats the point

[RonD1120 62]

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If the flood gates open it will not be good news. Prepare to see what I have seen.

the flood gates have never been shut thats the point

Well, that is correct. As the old joke goes, if you want to smuggle a WMD into the USA, just hide it in a bale of marijuana.

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[Kennedy 0]

Professor, you remember the old quote about holding a wolf by the ears?

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[Andrewwhyte 1]

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I have been involved in world of substance use disorder all my adult life. I do not see where government funding has stemmed the tide of abuse and addiction. On the other side, I have seen the predictable tragedy of untimely death through suicide and murder, devastated lives in poverty and sickness, as a direct result using mood altering chemicals.

If the flood gates open it will not be good news. Prepare to see what I have seen.

What do you think would happen if ten percent of the money currently spent on enforcement was spent on rehab?

[RonD1120 62]

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What do you think would happen if ten percent of the money currently spent on enforcement was spent on rehab?

I think the existing rehab facilities would try to expand in competition with new programs as the realization of new funding became known.

The grab for the new funds would require more effective lobbying and executive level management connections. Thus the administrative cost of executive salaries would increase in greater proportion to program or facility expansion.

The increased competition would require more justification by staff certifications and licencing. Competitive regulation also requires more objective verifiable evidence in the form treatment plans, charting and auditing.

The burnout rate on qualified professionals increases in direct proportion to the level of paperwork required. In the midst of staff turnover, the stress levels increase due to increased case load along with concomitant paper work. The rule of the 3 P's, Paperwork has Priority over People.

The clients soon realize that it is strictly a bureaucratic business with very little individual attention given to them. The success rate will continue to be modified within the field requiring less clean time to be considered successful treatment. Success rate is determined by outcomes measurement.

The last program where I worked required that the convicted felon ordered into rehab would be considered successful if not arrested for the same offense for one year. In other words, if a client was arrested for possession of cocaine and completed court ordered rehab his arrest record would be tracked for one year. If within that one year period he was arrested again for possession of methamphetamine, it did not count against the program.

As substance use disorder is statistically determined to be increasing, the program/facility lobbyists will petition for more funding to combat the problem. As programs secure more funding the executive salaries will be rewarded first and then..., well, you get the idea.

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[ryoder 1,590]

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If the flood gates open it will not be good news. Prepare to see what I have seen.

Yes, it certainly was a disaster in Portugal, wasn't it?

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[Andrewwhyte 1]

Sad, but probably true. However funding can actually be tied to things like beds and qualified employees hired.

[rehmwa 2]

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What do you think would happen if ten percent of the money currently spent on enforcement was spent on rehab?

I think the existing rehab facilities would try to expand in competition with .......(a whole lot of stuff).

nonsense, why spend 10% at all when it'll all be FREE from the gub'ment using "Obama money"

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[Nightingale 0]

But what if 10% of the money currently spent on prohibition was instead spent on education? Or even 50%?

Fewer people are smoking now, and a lot of that is directly related to education. People are figuring out that smoking is, well...really bad for you. Fewer people are starting to smoke, and more smokers are quitting.

There's enough hard data about why most drugs are really bad for you to convince most people to never try them.

Also, drugs currently fund most gang crime... I wonder what would happen to the gangs and the crime if the black market drug money went away because people could buy them legally?

[RonD1120 62]

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But what if 10% of the money currently spent on prohibition was instead spent on education? Or even 50%?

Fewer people are smoking now, and a lot of that is directly related to education. People are figuring out that smoking is, well...really bad for you. Fewer people are starting to smoke, and more smokers are quitting.

There's enough hard data about why most drugs are really bad for you to convince most people to never try them.

Also, drugs currently fund most gang crime... I wonder what would happen to the gangs and the crime if the black market drug money went away because people could buy them legally?

When I first became involved with drug programs, 1973, education was the approach. My program, Thee Door, was the 2nd licensed in FL. It was based on the Free Clinic model from Woodstock and San Francisco. That is, freaks helping freaks.

We realized that our society did drugs, either legal or illegal. Our Methadone program was about 50% Vietnam vets. My public speaking engagements opened with, "I am not here to tell you not to do drugs. I am here to tell you about the drugs you are doing."

In the end we had a considerable number of highly educated addicts and recreational drug users.

The reason people engage in the use of mood altering chemicals is they work, for awhile. By the time you realize they are not working any longer you are way behind the learning curve. Acquisition and maintenance of supply becomes the primary psychological function.

There is hard data to substantiate long term negative effects and affects from the use of marijuana and cocaine. How many skydivers ignore those warnings? Just take a quick glance back through the responses in this thread.

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[dreamdancer 0]

marijuana is not cocaine and alcohol is worst of all.

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[okalb 104]

While I don't disagree with what you are saying, I don't think that is what Nightingale meant. You are talking about educating users. I think she is talking about educating them before they are users. She mentioned smoking. People who smoke nowadays know damn well that it is bad for them and choose to smoke anyway. They key to education is the fewer number of kids starting to smoke. It wasn't an instant fix, it took quite some time but the number of smokers amongst the younger generations is way down.

Time flies like an arrow....fruit flies like a banana

[brenthutch 444]

All joking aside I agree with you 100%. I am a libertarian at heart.

[brenthutch 444]

Education and tough love. Give people the info to make their own choices, but dont protect them from the consequences of those choices.