The Drug War Toll Mounts

[TO Kid]

In Washington, D.C., a 27-year old quadriplegic is sentenced to ten days in jail for marijuana possession, where he dies under suspicious circumstances. In Florida, a wheelchair-bound multiple sclerosis patient now serves a 25-year prison sentence for using an out-of-state doctor to obtain pain medication. And in Palestine, Texas, prosecutors arrest 72 people -- all of them black -- and charge them with distributing crack cocaine. The scene bears a remarkable resemblance to a similar mass, mostly-black drug bust in nearby Tulia five years ago.

These examples aren't exceptional. They're typical. America's drug war marches on, impervious to efficacy, justice, or absurdity. Drug prohibition was nowhere to be found in Election 2004. There was no mention of it in the debates, the conventions, or the endless cable news campaign coverage.

In some ways, that was a blessing. Campaign discussion of drug prohibition has too often focused on which candidate took what drugs when, and who was more sorry for having done so.

While it's refreshing that we've moved beyond apologies, it's also true that under the laws many of today's politicians support, a kid who experiments with illicit drugs the same way many of them once did may not get the chance to finish school or go to college, much less run for political office.

http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-02-04.html

[MatrixEscape]

1. Choice?

Who should decide what a person does to themselves? How realistic is the "threat" to others and when?

Who profits from draconian drug laws the most?

What is cruel and unusual punishment? Do the laws, Constitutionally, fit the crime? How many people are effected by the incarceration of those who commit a victim-less crime like drug use, etc.? Is the incarcerated person really better off in prison? Does imprisonment for a crime against "one's self" solve the alleged problem?

Is drug addiction a crime or an illness? Is there systematic confusion about the science of the problem? Is this ever going to be cleared up to the satisfaction of those who think about it? Is the legislation knee-jerk and sensational, or does it serve a different, more nefarious reason all together?

A glance into the history of drug use, both ancient and in the early part of the 20th Century, is very educational on those points. For instance, the use of narcotics over the counter prior to the Harrison Act. There are many myths and there is much information.

Prison can ruin a life, (and a family) as much as, or more than, casual drug use.

[TO Kid]

2. Not just prison

One of my pet peeves is the number of people who get killed by tainted drugs or inconsistent purity. If Bayer was still allowed to sell heroin I doubt you'd see so many overdoses.

[rodeodance]

3. past time to ask this question!!

.....Like alcohol prohibition before it, drug prohibition has failed, by every conceivable measure. Isn't it about time for America to take a hard look at its drug policy?

[Sugarbleus]

4. The "War on Drugs" has now become a criminal activity in and of

itself!!! Don't forget about the prescribing physicians in all of this. They are being leaned on to NOT prescribe pain killers for people in pain. They have the fed breathing down their neck for every script they write.

First they chase harmless cannabis smokers,now they've moved into the Medical field to tell MDs what they can and cannot do for THEIR PATIENTS.

Consider yourself lucky if you find a doctor who isn't "afraid" of the DEA/FED; who goes ahead and prescribes meds for their patients regardless of any "heat".

TV, foundations (arthritis for example), other media all harp on how bad it is to take opioids for pain. The urging is for patients to buy and consume "New" drugs from the pharma industry...meds we discover could KILL YOU.

If you are poor, a former addict, an ex felon, or seeing a particularly religious physician, your chances of getting pain relief are severely diminished. I think THIS is criminal because it's inhumane and cruel! Except for people like us, the rest of the population including the Fed is OUT OF CONTROL with paranoia.

I am FURIOUS that someone like Rush limpballs or any other high flying RWer you can name, can go in and get a pain prescription for the minutest ailment while my daughter (or I) who recently released from Prison for drug use and who has a verified (MRI & Xrays) rotting spine CANNOT get substantial pain meds AT ALL. They give us Advil/motrin/Ibuprofine..we know what that does to the stomach!

So whether the substance is Marijuana, pain killers,or some other substance, and if you go to jail, your ass is cooked in this War on Drugs society!! You will be forever banned from any sort of relief that is afforded the rest of society.

In a paranoid attempt to keep society sober and legal, the Gov has erred on the side of cruelty and suffering. It's OUTRAGEOUS. :grr:

[Dark]

5. Yea, I know. It sucks. . .n/t