Can the police afford to abandon the drug war?

[Charai]

[lnrw]

[Hyperion]

The fact it's a contentious remark on even this forum to state that alcohol and cocaine are comparatively dangerous is what draws ire and ultimately feeds the war on drugs. Until all drugs are decriminalized, you are going to have a very brutal cartel-organized system. Weed is certainly the most trafficked product, but cocaine and heroin provide the biggest return on investments. And for the most people, those two drugs are viewed as more dangerous than alcohol when it's not the case. Withdrawal symptoms from both are easier than withdrawal from alcoholism, and cocaine - when it is not turned into crack -is just as addictive as vodka. Heroin addiction is also more easily manageable if methadone and suboxone were easily attainable. Don't even get me started on how the methadone industry is evil. Most opiate addicts could take methadone for 3-4 days and quit with minimal withdrawal. Instead these companies keep patients on methadone maintenance for years.

Chemists who synthesize LSD barely make any money because even most recreational drug users don't trip that often - hence why cartels don't usually sell psychedelics.

[Hyperion]

Also of interest to some:

In my area there used to be a lot of night clubs only 2-3 years ago. This meant a lot of ecstasy was being trafficked into the area, so the cops hit hard on those clubs and dealers who sold ecstasy. Jump ahead in time - ecstasy use is down, but a lot of incidents of high schoolers trying meth that didn't occur a few years ago.

Something similar is happening now in regards to opiates. The cops are throwing a lot of money and manpower at stopping heroin dealers, and all of a sudden there's more incidents of people OD'ing from even more powerful opiates like oxymorphone and fentanyl.

[lnrw]

[The Dharma Bum]

Alcohol is definitely the worst of the hard drugs. Practically every f**k up homeless person is that way because of alcohol. Other drugs will mess you up if you let them, but not like that.

[nordictruce]

I smoked crack for 6 years. Just putting it out there lol. I dabbled with a few other drugs, h, alcohol, meth (not really), but crack was the girl I took to the prom. You'd be surprised at how many "normal people" smoke crack. All those homeless people you see on the streets weren't always homeless. It's pretty chic to say that alcohol is the worst of all but man, I've been in the battlefield and that's just some bullshit. I have been a casual drinker for my entire life. To this day, hell right now I have a fringe with vodka, gin, a few coronas in it, and i can count the number of drinks I've had all year on one hand. But crack, literally, the first time I tried it, I was done. I mean DONE. I didn't have any time to see if I liked it, I didn't have this period to grow into the culture, I made the mistake, hit it, and before I let the smoke out the very first time I hit it, I knew my entire life had changed. I'm not saying alcohol doesn't destroy lives. I'm not saying it's not dangerous. But it's not even close to being as potent as Crack or Meth is. Not even in the same ball park. And trust me you don't want to find out, take my word for it. Please forgive me before hand for my post not having any paragraphs my enter button is apparently strung out on dope and isn't working. Anyway, the police basically saved my life. I got arrested for having dope in the car one day, pleaded into a drug court, passed it, and I've been clean ever sense. But I see so many lives ruined by this, and not in a normal way. Do you have any idea what a felony on your record does to you? you cant' get a normal apartment/ house anymore. You can't get a regular job anymore. you are black balled from normal society. Because you like to do drugs, not because you are violent or anything like that. Lucky for me my record is sealed. If they would have sent me to jail instead of drug court I am not sure I'd be clean. Drug Court helped me a lot. Gave me a real support system. Jail would have made me a better drug addict. I guess what I am saying is, I don't so much have a problem with the arrests but moreso with the treatment of drug related offenders. All the are doing is getting them harded for a life style they don't actually fix the problem in most cases. Some get tired of being in jails, hospitals and institutes and get their act together but that's not many. Some, most go to jail and say you know, i can do this.

[PoS]

[The Dharma Bum]

[Charai]

They can only buy 1.4oz a month? The government is the only distributor? That's stupid. They put half-assed legislation like this in place and then anti-drug proponents will come running and screaming that there is still a black market for weed.

But it's Uruguay, not a serious country. Every stoner that saw this just laughed at the name uragay and moved on.