Heroin Problem? (Louisville: how much, house, buying)

[censusdata]

The War on Drugs dealt with the supply side but did nothing about the demand side. Supply side was fought by spraying poison on suspected drug growing sites in Latin American [God help you if it ends up in the village's water supply] and by putting drug dealers in prison. Since the demand was still there it made the drugs much more valuable to sale (same demand, less quantity = higher price). Legalization is not a magic bullet but countries that do so are doing better than the USA on this issue.

[eok]

One way to reduce the demand for drugs would be to put all drug users in a big concentration camp in the desert, where it's easy to prevent drugs from getting to the users. Or maybe put some kind of microchip device in each user that keeps track of their usage and sends daily status reports to drug enforcement. Those are just two of thousands of possible ways to reduce the demand for drugs. But do we care enough to even bother? Or did we lose this war by not having the will to win it?

[natguy]

Originally Posted by eok

One way to reduce the demand for drugs would be to put all drug users in a big concentration camp in the desert, where it's easy to prevent drugs from getting to the users. Or maybe put some kind of microchip device in each user that keeps track of their usage and sends daily status reports to drug enforcement. Those are just two of thousands of possible ways to reduce the demand for drugs. But do we care enough to even bother? Or did we lose this war by not having the will to win it?

You want to violate our Constitution ? How bout just letting people have the freedom to choose what they want to do with their own bodies ? Why must the govt. or any one for that matter be involved in people's personal decisions as long as it harms no one else ???

[natguy]

Originally Posted by eok

So the purpose of the war on drugs was to convince people not to do drugs?

The purpose is because the govt. thinks they know whats best for the individual . Ironic that back in the 19th century, no drugs were illegal for consumption by the individual and yet our nation survived

[eok]

Originally Posted by natguy

be involved in people's personal decisions as long as it harms no one else ???

The drug trade involves a lot of very serious crime, such as murders, bribery, corruption, etc. Those who buy illegal drugs, support and encourage that crime, and are therefore very serious criminals themselves, who need to be punished very severely.

Those who want to make drugs legal, should do whatever it takes to make them legal. But they should support the war on drugs in the meantime. You don't protest a war by making your own side lose. That's treason. Only the lowest vilest scum does that.

[bellhead]

Originally Posted by natguy

You want to violate our Constitution ? How bout just letting people have the freedom to choose what they want to do with their own bodies ? Why must the govt. or any one for that matter be involved in people's personal decisions as long as it harms no one else ???

Think the DEA already took a **** on and wiped their ass with the constitution. The abuses are staggering what has happened since the late 70's in the war on drugs.

[gemstone1]

"And people think it is a bad idea to build a wall at the border." Does a wall stop drugs coming into CA via tunnels ? Or the 500,000+ big trucks that crossed at Larado...in just the 2nd quarter of 2014 alone ?

Talk about a boondoggle....a wall may have some effect on foot traffic, but it would have minimal impact on drug traffic. And the chance of MX paying for a border wall is beyond laughable....IMO.

For those who want to know "where heroin is coming from, and how it is distributed"....read: Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones. Reading this book will cause the reader to wonder...now that our government is aware of this connection to one small town in MX, what are they doing about it ?

Regards
Gemstone1

[SoulJourn]

Originally Posted by cubedeathk

Amen, KASPER has killed more Kentuckians than anyone can possibly imagine, and if you look at where the herion epidemic is the worst you find states and jurisdictions where it became more difficult to access prescription opioids and opiates. It's time to quit the faux puritanism and legalize it. We know how to and are pretty good at treating addicts (not to mention addiction to legalized substance takes a totally different and much more palatable form than addiction to illegal ones). There's not a whole lot we can do or do cheaply for someone who is dead from an overdose, killed from a drug deal gone bad, or with HIV. The war on drugs has failed and all the evidence points to it, but sadly we are doubling down. It's especially terrible opiates, where virtually all of the negative consequences are not inherent properties of the drug itself but rather the direct result of them being illegal. Remember people who are happy, healthy, doing fulfilling work, and have meaningful relationship don't have any desire to compulsively do drugs, but the people doing them now won't last until we create a society like that unless we take real steps to save their lives now.

Best post.

[eok]

Originally Posted by bellhead

Think the DEA already took a **** on and wiped their ass with the constitution. The abuses are staggering what has happened since the late 70's in the war on drugs.

Therefore we need a supreme court that supports the constitution. Are we going to get one?

But just because a war is fought by incompetent fascists is no reason to join the enemy. We need to do something about those who fight the war. We need to replace them with competent people who respect rights and have the brains to figure out how to win the war.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by eok

Good point. Prohibitions don't work unless they're enforced competently. There isn't even enough competence to keep drugs out of prisons. Drug dealers love to profit from the incompetence of the government. But legalizing sure isn't the answer. Even if it were, there is no reason to believe the legalization would be done any more competently than the enforcement.

If drugs could be kept out of prisons, and drug users could be kept in prisons, those drug users would be removed from the market for drugs, which might impact the profit of the drug dealers. A lot of violent crime is financed by that profit.

Being a drug addict shouldn't be a crime. People shouldnt be criminalized for being a drug addict. It ruins their life, they become employable with a felony record. Too many people are not employable by being seen as a criminal when they aren't a criminal.

Additionally, prisons/jails are overcrowded with non-criminals. Prisons/Jails SHOULD ONLY BE USED for people who are a threat to other's in society. If they commit crimes while on drugs, than they should go to prison/jails for their CRIMES.

Someone who has not hurt other people, but only hurt himself/herself, shouldn't have felony records, prison sentences, etc.