The Failed War on Drugs

I was accurately pointing out that so called conservatives have always been at the forefront of these draconian drug laws, enhanced forfeiture procedures and that the so called leftists have always been in favor of more lenient sentences and decriminalization of drugs. So, it is not total horses ****. Simply the truth.

 

I agree.

 

It's all in how the cons look at it....they think it's a success, because it made the DEA, FBI, ATF, and the prison industry huge....and it locks up liberals. It also made the pharmaceutical industry filthy rich. West Virginia has 1.2 million people, and big pharma sold 780 million doses of Oxycontin in the last two years to that state. So ask yourself, who is the real murdering cartel?

 

I would argue similarly.... and that Rand Paul is the only high profile conservative that is "republican".

Goldwater hit the nail on the head when he said the religious right would lead to the demise of republicanism. The RR anti-liberty nanny state ideology was used to justify bad law and opened the door to other similar tactics which were used "liberally", pardon the pun, to make more bad law.

How does a country that has gone around the world promoting the "Rule of Law" for at least a century suddenly do a 180 and turn its back on one of the most basic principles of the ROL... Innocent until proven guilty?

Even average Joe knows this principle but, in terms of legislation ... how the frick and frack did SCOTUS allow this to begin with ?? This is what boggles my mind.

Our system has become so twisted and convoluted that the powers at be can essentially do what they like and are no longer bound to any rules - never mind have their power limited by "we the people".

We are not moving towards a quazi totalitarian police state ... we are already there.

 

I agree that Senator Paul is the only high profile Republican who supports the constitution regarding forfeitures and these idiotic drug laws in general. However many so called "leftists" have come out in favor of decriminalization of drugs and an end to the highway robbery that is going on all over the US by Federal, State and local police agencies. This sickening practice should be ended immediately and all of those who participated in it, including judges, prosecutors and policemen should be flogged publicly for days before being forced to find all of those whose money and property they stole and return it, then apologies publicly and profusely.

 

True. Kamala Harris supported asset forfeiture as well. And Bill Clintons's racist war on drugs is what cost Gore the election in 2000, not Ralph Nader.

 

Thinking this over I realized that you are right about the fallacy of mandatory sentences. Judges should have the ability to weigh the sentences and make them appropriate to the crime. The only stipulation that I will make is that judges should have the full range of sentencing from time served to life without parole and everything in between at their discretion.

 

The people who pushed for the war on drugs were NOT small government folk. Taking cannabis as an example, was FDR a small government bloke? Quite the opposite.

The Harrison Narcotics Act where it all began was introduced by a Democrat and signed by the most big government President you ever had - Woodrow Wilson.

The FDA was a Teddy Roosevelt invention, another Progressive fan of big government.

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Granted, today the GOP is pushing the hardest for prohibition, but the Democrats haven't done **** to abolish the war on drugs, not at the Federal level anyway. Heck, they use a small government concept, nullification, to push for legalisation in certain states.

 

Right and left should partner up and stop state-industry collusion. Capitalists don't want Corporatism.

 

People were DYING from a lack of regulation in the Food and Drug industries.

While I support the elimination of the DEA and the phony war on drugs there still needs to be regulations because profit driven corporations don't have any incentive to ensure that their products are safe for human consumption.

 

You present an interesting matter for consideration. First you claim that people who are the consumers are dying, while also stating that corporation have no incentive to insure the safety of their products. If they honestly do not care if their own consumer base is dying off due to their negligent actions, then pray tell what would amount to an incentive to do better? Without consumers a corporation cannot survive. Disregarding those that keep one in business, keeping one alive essentially, is akin to committing suicide by cutting your own throat.

 

So you're saying the prolonged use of certain, if not all drugs doesn't change your brain functions, and chemistry?

 

Short term greed for profits now outweigh long term considerations for sociopathic corporations.

 

And what becomes of those short term profits in the face of public backlash over lack of consideration for consumer protection standards? In the modern world where any story can get reposted millions of times in the course of a few hours on facebook, twitter, and countless other messaging services, how do corporations overcome such?

 

They just declare bankruptcy and "sell" their assets off to "another" corporation with a different name that pulls the exact same scam.

But thanks for making my point about needing to keep the FDA in place for consumer protection standards,

 

U.S. law enforcement arrested a French man suspected of running a "dark web" drug ring...

Suspected dark web drug dealer arrested headed to beard competition
Sept. 30, 2017 -- U.S. law enforcement arrested a French man suspected of running a "dark web" drug ring after he traveled to the United States to compete in a beard-growing competition.