Newsgroups: alt.politics.usa.misc,talk.politics.misc,soc.culture.usa,alt.activism.d,talk.politics.drugs
From: [r n t] at [drutx.att.com] (NN2414200-ThomasRN(DR7312)412)
Subject: Re: war on drugs and the government
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1993 16:05:37 GMT

In a bunch of articles several people said a lot of stuff
about the constitution, prohibition, drugs, and what
happened when.

Let's look at the damage the "War on Drugs" has inflicted on
U.S. society.

+ Gangsterism for fun and profit. Many poor kids have got to
  be asking themselves this: "why bust my butt for 5
  bucks an hour working for some chump at McDonalds when I
  can belong the Crips or the Bloods and make big-time money
  selling coke, ice, or crack and maybe end up with a nice
  ride like beamer?" Of course most would still opt for
  working at club Mac because selling drugs is illegal, but
  a significant number opt for gangs. If the U.S. government
  wanted a way to promote gangs, there is no better method
  than to keep drugs illegal. The Bloods, the Crips and God
  knows who else have huge amounts of money pouring into their
  gangs regularly because of the "War on Drugs." If the U.S.
  decides that to declare a "War on Gangs," the most
  devestating blow they could deal would be to legalize drugs.
  Personally, I'd prefer to see gangs stamped out rather than
  drugs--it's becoming apparent that you can't do both.

+ Jails and prisons are bursting at the seams. Generally, the
  same people who advocate lengthy mandatory sentences for
  drug-related crimes are the same ones who vote down
  financing for the extra detention facilities needed house
  the convicts. The U.S. has an appalling number of people
  locked up in prisons at an average cost 30,000 to 40,000
  dollars a year for each prisoner. Why spent that kind of
  money punishing someone who is trying to do themselves in
  with chemicals anyway? The threat of lengthy incarceration
  isn't a deterent for someone who doesn't give a damn about
  themselves in the first place. Sadly, there's an almost
  inexhaustable supply of such individuals in the U.S.

+ Addicts stealing and robbing to support expensive drug
  habits. You could almost call this a spin-off effect.
  If it's costing you 150 to 200 bucks a day to cop
  and you're not making a six- or seven-figure income,
  you're going to have to rob, steal, whore, cheat, or
  embezell to finance your habit.
  
+ Constitutional freedoms have been jeopardized. I concur with
  all of the arguments appearing earlier in this thread about
  the dubious constitutionality of making substances illegal.
  Let's add to that the supreme court decesion that upheld
  the no-knock warrant. To top it all off, we have law
  enforcement agencies who feel they are impowered to do
  things like kidnap people and bring them to the U.S. for
  trial (although that tactic is now alledgedly being phased out).

+ Errosion of self-responsibility. The government should not
  be making basic decissions for its citizens like what they
  should or should not put in their bodies. From my point of
  view, you'd have to be a moron to try crack; but, if you want
  to, that's okay with me. People need to take responsibility
  for themselves or suffer the consequences.

I'm out of time, so I'll post without finishing.

Bob Thomas
Denver, CO, USA