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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002661006_sunstamper04.html
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"Sometimes people in law enforcement will hear it whispered that I'm a former cop who favors decriminalization of marijuana laws, and they'll approach me the way they might a traitor or snitch. So let me set the record straight.
Yes, I was a cop for 34 years, the last six of which I spent as chief of Seattle's police department.
But no, I don't favor decriminalization. I favor legalization, and not just of pot but of all drugs, including heroin, cocaine, meth, psychotropics, mushrooms and LSD."
Read what this veteran police officer with a Ph.D. in behavioral psychology has to say about the drug war, and about legalizing all drugs and prostitution, etc.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/ar...king_rank/
I would like to see anyone dispute his logic and reasoning. But please read the whole articles, not just the teasers before repudiating his statements.
Of course ideas like his won't be implemented, they make way too much common sense. Props to him for telling the truth, however.
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I have a problem with the way he says "It should be legal as long as they are used responsibly."
Like alcohol, the regular use of drugs frequently leads to irresponsible usage. In some cases (crack, for example) the usage tends to lead to almost IMMEDIATE irresponsible usage.
I'm not sure how to solve this problem other than trying to determine the root cause of why people use addictive substances, and fixing that instead.
But it's a dream that making drugs legal will somehow result in more responsible usage. There's a complete logical disconnect there.
Alcohol has been legal and available for a long time and your mind would be boggled at the vast amount of violent crime and misery from boozing. Drunk people are out there beating and killing their loved ones, killing people with their cars, generally destroying lives. When sober they have no idea what they've done, just like drug users.
It will be no different with legalizing even more addictive and damaging drugs like crack or meth. People don't smoke crack and then stretch out in the Laz-y-boy. They smoke crack and then tear off their clothes, break into their neighbor's house and stab someone in the head. Then you see them getting tackled by the cops saying "WHAT'D I DO? WHAT'D I DO?"
I was on the law enforcement side of it. It's ugly. It's incredibly destructive. Even the sterotypically mellow pot smokers still get in their car and kill people.
The laws are not the problem, it's ignoring the root cause of usage that is the problem. We've swung all the way over to the enforcement side.
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So should we criminalize alcohol usage? Or not, arguing that we should, but it's too late, but that doesn't make legalizing drugs right? Complicated decisions, and a useful dabate.
It seems like the interview made it clear that he supports treatment - and I would infer that he doesn't mean just for people who get into trouble with drugs, but an overall treatment for, as you say, the root causes.
And he is clearly saying that criminal behavior under the use of drugs is criminal behavior, and should be punished as such. I see nowhere where he says that legalizing drugs will mean more responsible drug use behavior.
As to whether there would be an increase in violent and other criminal behaviors if drugs were legalized is a matter of conjecture. One thing is certain: there would be much money and resources freed up to deal with that set of problems.
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I didn't mean that he was saying making it legal would make it more responsible.
What I meant was he is emphasizing that legal drug use is fine as long as it is responsible, but he is ignoring the fact that drug use is generally irresponsible. The average drug user is frequently a drug abuser because that is the nature of the addictive and destructive properties of drugs.
So my point is that when he says "as long as it is reponsible use" is ridiculous because the vast majority of druggies using meth, crack, etc are NOT using it responsibly. They are using it and then acting in socially unacceptable ways. This includes non-violent stuff like stealing to support the addiction as well as the awful violent side.
At the same time it is a fantasy to think that alcohol usage is not like drug usage. It might be less addictive but it is still teribly destructive on the whole. The legality of it gives it a veneer of acceptability but it costs society far more than it gives back.
The biggest difference is in the addictiveness of drugs and the severity of the effects. I don't care how addictive nicotine is, people don't have a cigarette and then feel that the spider people are coming for them and they need to burn the house down.
"Responsible use" of drugs like crack, meth, coke is a fantasy.
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I'd reply here... but I'm just too @#$%'d up to write anything. Gimme some time to burn down the house and relax - I'll get back with you, like .... Sunday or something.
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BTW jp burning your house down does not actually stop the spider people from coming for you, but it seems like a good idea at the time.
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rob banzai Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>The average drug user is frequently
> a drug abuser because that is the nature of the
> addictive and destructive properties of drugs.
>
> So my point is that when he says "as long as it is
> reponsible use" is ridiculous because the vast
> majority of druggies using meth, crack, etc are
> NOT using it responsibly. They are using it and
> then acting in socially unacceptable ways. This
> includes non-violent stuff like stealing to
> support the addiction as well as the awful violent
> side.
>
Got some numbers on that? The "vast majority of drug users" that you know about are crime statistics. It is entirely possible, even likely, that ones who use responsibly don't get caught, and don't get counted.
> At the same time it is a fantasy to think that
> alcohol usage is not like drug usage. It might be
> less addictive but it is still teribly destructive
> on the whole. The legality of it gives it a veneer
> of acceptability but it costs society far more
> than it gives back.
As the author points out, the Volstead Act was a national disaster. Prohibiting the use of alcohol did more damage to communities than alcohol.
>
> The biggest difference is in the addictiveness of
> drugs and the severity of the effects. I don't
> care how addictive nicotine is, people don't have
> a cigarette and then feel that the spider people
> are coming for them and they need to burn the
> house down.
>
> "Responsible use" of drugs like crack, meth, coke
> is a fantasy.
How do you know? "User" is not synonymous with "addict".
Other countries seem to get along pretty well without the (almost) universal prohibition on recreational drugs imposed in the US.
Throughout the EU the trend is towards decriminalization, or relaxed enforcement of laws against the use of illicit drugs.
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rob banzai Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I didn't mean that he was saying making it legal
> would make it more responsible.
>
> What I meant was he is emphasizing that legal drug
> use is fine as long as it is responsible, but he
> is ignoring the fact that drug use is generally
> irresponsible. The average drug user is frequently
> a drug abuser because that is the nature of the
> addictive and destructive properties of drugs.
Not true. The average drug user is like the average alcohol user. It might be that the majority of drug users you've come into contact with are drug abusers, which would skew your perception.
At least ninety percent of the population is able to handle responsibly the use of a highly addicting dangerous substance called alcohol.
>
> So my point is that when he says "as long as it is
> reponsible use" is ridiculous because the vast
> majority of druggies using meth, crack, etc are
> NOT using it responsibly. They are using it and
> then acting in socially unacceptable ways. This
> includes non-violent stuff like stealing to
> support the addiction as well as the awful violent
> side.
The stealing to support the addiction would drop to almost nothing if drugs were legalized. If a nights worth of crack cost no more than a pack of cigarettes or a box of cookies, why would anyone commit a crime to support their crack habit, when a few hours of pan-handling would get them their fix? More likely we'd have a short term epidemic of drug overdoses as God and Darwin sorted things out.
If a person becomes addicted to a substance, it's a medical problem and should be handled as such. If they engage in illegal behavior while under the influence, then they should be punished for the behavior and possibly receive treatment if they have a history of such behavior while under the influence.
>
> At the same time it is a fantasy to think that
> alcohol usage is not like drug usage. It might be
> less addictive but it is still teribly destructive
> on the whole. The legality of it gives it a veneer
> of acceptability but it costs society far more
> than it gives back.
No arguments here. I think it's as addictive, and possibly more seductive because of its "respectability".
>
> The biggest difference is in the addictiveness of
> drugs and the severity of the effects. I don't
> care how addictive nicotine is, people don't have
> a cigarette and then feel that the spider people
> are coming for them and they need to burn the
> house down.
>
> "Responsible use" of drugs like crack, meth, coke
> is a fantasy.
Not all users of these drugs suffer from spider people.
Let me be frank. (Don't say "hi frank!")
I was addicted to Crystal Meth. I knew people who were afraid of the "spider people". I knew people who were friends with the "spider people"! Not everyone in my crowd was like that, though. And quite a few did meth for a while, then grew out of it. It was too much for them, so, being responsible, they just stopped.
I was responsible, but I couldn't stop. So I got treatment, and with professional help and non-professional help, I was able to stop 12 and a half years ago and I haven't picked up a drug or drink since. I didn't want to meet the "spider people" I guess. =)
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See?
The spider people made you double post.
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