Can the police afford to abandon the drug war?

[spacemonkey]

[The Dharma Bum]

[Hyperion]

In general alcoholism is a more deplorable and dangerous addiction than almost anything else. It not only creates wild mood swings but inhibits many restraints and can lead to death upon discontinuing use. Tweakers, crack heads, and alcoholics should all be avoided, but the former two are able to make more logical decisions than someone who is drunk.

[nordictruce]

I cannot agree with that assessment.

The truth about crack cocaine is that for instance, it takes you down so quick, it's like a rollar coaster that goes straight down. You go down so quick that alot of people hit their bottom quicker and really want change as they know they can't live like this anymore. When I got arrested I was looking for a way to stop i just could not

Alcohol is more like a drive down a steep hill. You are driving and you are obviously going down but you have just enough control where you think you can get out of it or manage it, even though you can't.

I don't think the absence of physical withdrawls is any real measuring stick to which drug is more dangerous and more problematic.

I am by no means saying that alcohol is not a problematic drug, but in the grand scheme of things, there are quite a few people who can and do use alcohol socially and recrationally, I being one of them. In my 6 years of heavy drug use I've never met a guy who could take hit of dope while watching MSNBC, then go to sleep lol. There's no such thing as a recreational crack smoker.

My entire plight is, I just hate to see real drug addicts treated as criminals like someone who just goes around and robs people for no reason is. They aren't. You get them off the drugs and most can be productive citizens. The question is how do you make everyone want to stop abusing / using drugs while not giving them a scarlet letter at the same time.


I would be happy if they made all drug use related charges misdemeanors that way they don't come up on a background check, but still kept the same sentences that they have now. I could live with that.

[The Dharma Bum]

[Indy]

Our society needs to de-criminalize drug abuse and treat it for what it is: an addiction/disease.

Yes, crack is the worst (as is meth) but we hypocritically celebrate alcohol which causes more deaths in this country for a variety of reasons than pot, which is outlawed, ever could.

We need a complete reboot on our drug policy.

[exploited]

Drugs should be legalized of course... my concern is what Big Pharma will create if recreational drugs become acceptable.

[Indy]

Here's another irony: you know what the most abused drugs are in this country? Hint: the legal ones.

[Medius]

[exploited]