Monday, May 21, 2007

Let me clear something up, part 2 One of the arguments I often hear against legalization is that legalization would result in vast numbers of people who would then suddenly develop dangerous drug abuse problems. Here's the problem with that argument (in addition to the fact that they have absolutely no evidence to back it up): It appears that there are three main possible types of people in terms of their relationship with recreational drugs: People who are likely to have no interest in using them. People who are likely to use them with discretion and responsibility. People who are likely to abuse them. Yes, this is a generalization, and there are undoubtedly shades and intersections, but follow me for a minute... OK, clearly groups 1 and 2 are not a problem to society, right? So all we have to worry about is group 3. Group 3 is likely to abuse drugs. Now, between legal drugs (such as alcohol) and the easy ability to get illegal drugs despite the drug war, what could possibly be preventing these people from abusing drugs now? In other words, just who are these people who are both likely to abuse drugs and yet would wait until additional drugs are legalized to do so? Is this a large group? Do you know of anyone who would qualify? Is there any way that an overblown concern for the welfare of this imaginary and miniscule population can justify all the excesses of the drug war? Now perhaps the drug warrior will say that legalizing drugs will cause people to abuse "harder" drugs. If that's the case then it's an argument for the immediate and unconditional legalization of marijuana, since marijuana is less of a concern than any other drug (and we should then encourage people to move to it from "harder" drugs like alcohol). Or maybe the drug warrior believes that there are huge portions of the population who use alcohol responsibly, but will become raging marijuana addicts if it is legalized. Right. To recap: Can anyone identify the millions of people in the United States who are likely to become drug abusers if drugs are legalized and regulated, but are not already abusing illegal drugs or alcohol? How many of them would there have to be to justify the death of Alberto Sepulveda? 11:20:49 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Let me clear something up, part 1 The drug czar has a particularly heinous post in approvingly linking to an ignorant article in the Scotsman. Yuppies' "Cocaine Soaked with Innocent Blood" [...] Wood accused thousands of middle-class cocaine users of being "morally and politically irresponsible," and spoke of plans for a new anti-drug campaign. The article in the Scotsman talks about trying to educate people about how their drug use fuels violence, etc., etc., and suggests a bold new strategy of encouraging socially aware young people to choose not to use drugs in order to save the world. The problem with this strategy, of course, is that those young people actually have a brain in their heads. They instinctively know (because they are not complete morons) that the real problem is the drug war. Now, let me say this clearly for the idiot drug warriors out there... Yes, if everyone stopped using all illicit drugs, then the violence associated with the drug trade would stop. However, this is not even a theoretical possibility. This is like saying that if everyone in the world gave up sex, there would be no STDs. True, but completely irrelevant, because it is not humanly achievable. The drug war and its associated violence, on the other hand, can be eliminated through legalization. This is not only theoretically possible, but we've even done it in the past (with alcohol). Seeing those who propagate the drug war and its violence claim the moral high ground is offensive. So to recap: Ending drug war violence by eliminating drug use: Not possible. Ending drug war violence by eliminating the drug war: Possible. 10:51:47 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Maybe we should invade the U.S.... Radley Balko catches this sadly hilarious insanity from neocon Michael Ledeen lamenting the terrible state of the justice system in Iran: Terrifying pictures, to be sure. For me, the most revealing thing about them is that the police feel obliged to wear masks while conducting a drug bust in the capital. tells you something about the relationship between the people and the state. The relationship between the people and the state. Oh Michael. Have you visited the United States? Have you met these people? For many of them, the very last thing they saw in their too-short lives were police wearing masks. Will you care about them? Will you call for military intervention to save them from tyranny? Radley has more pictures for Michael to check out. 8:39:57 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Lou Dobbs and the Mexican Attorney General's office just can't understand why there is violence in the drug war. Sigh. From Lou Dobbs' show on Friday (unofficial transcript)... Lou Dobbs: "You've gotta hand it to Philipe Calderon, the President of Mexico. He's trying, and trying very hard to deal with an out-of-control drug industry in his country. Illegal drugs. The war between the drug cartels and Mexican troops escalating the toll from what has been an especially violent week [...] Casey Wian: "Just 20 miles south of the Arizona border, the deadliest battle so far in Mexico's war against the drug cartels that control much of the country. 22 people in the Sonoran town of Cananea are dead after federal troops stormed a ranch Wednesday. 15 drug cartel members, 5 policemen and 2 civilians." [...] Ricardo Najera (Mexican Atty. General's Office): "We're working very hard to find out what's caused this violence. And we hope to have a quick response to the situation." Casey Wian: "The Mexican Government's response has been to deploy 24,000 federal troops to battle drug traffickers nationwide. Still, violence has been escalating. 2+2= ... Come on, you can do it... 2+2=... Or as the dimwitted fireman once said to me: I don't understand it. I threw a grenade at the burning building to put out the fire, but for some unknown reason the fire actually kept getting worse and spread to another house. I'm going to have to get some more grenades. 12:34:49 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []