The failed war on drugs and the anti-states pledge

The failed war on drugs and the anti-states pledge

By Dark Politricks

As you may or may not know when America went to the polling booths last weeks to vote for their President they also had a chance to vote for numerous other politicians at various levels of the government as well as state level ballot initiatives which are a referendum of the people on a certain subject.

The two most pertinent ones to this post are the ballots in Washington and Colorado that legalised Marijuana in those states for recreational use. Not just medicinal use as many other states have already done but pure recreational use.

Now my position on drugs is clear. All drugs should all be legalised and regulated. The fact that they are illegal causes so many social and health problems as well as draining resources from the government it is unbelievable.

Cigarettes and alcohol are much more dangerous to society and to peoples health yet they remain legal. In a logical world they would be banned and other drugs that claim many less lives per year - mainly due to their impure nature because of their illegality - would be legalised.

In these times of austerity would you rather you local policeman was out looking for rapists and murderers or bashing down the door of a teenage pot smoker?

On top of that just imagine if drugs were probably regulated and sold at their real price instead of the over inflated prices they are currently are sold at due to their illegality.

The amount of money brought in as tax revenue would probably close the UK's deficit in a year. The reason so much crime is committed by addicts to pay for their drugs is due to their over pricing which is also due to them being illegal. Cut the price, cut the crime. Make them available on prescription, cut all the crime.

Just imagine  the money that could be saved by not having the Police force, who are already being cut back due to lack of funds, from wasting their time on small drug busts. Or the cost of insurance claims from people who have had their houses or cars broken into so an addict can pay for their next fix.

Before 1968 and then the 1973 Misuse of Drugs Act in the UK Heroin and Cocaine addicts could obtain their fixes easily from their local doctor. It was called the British Experiment.

Doctors can still obtain special licences to dispense heroin if they wish but it is much more tightly regulated and there are very few who do this apart from some drug addiction treatment centres where they are trialing giving addicts heroin in a safe and clean environment. The evidence from these trials show that not only does giving addicts heroin in a clean environment cuts crime but it also cuts their use of street drugs as well.

However the UK government would rather give addicts a more addictive drug instead - Methadone.

A drug that has been known to kill small children when they stumble across it due to it's sweet taste and one that is much more addictive and harder to come off than Heroin due to the length of time it stays in the body.

However it is used, despite the addict still wanting to take Heroin - for that is their drug of choice, because:

1. It's cheaper.
2. It comes in liquid form so it can be reduced in small levels easily over time and,
3. It doesn't give the addict any form of high (unless they drink the whole bottle) - another reason most Methadone users still use Heroin on top of their prescription.

In my eyes these are 3 good reasons to give heroin addicts heroin and not Methadone as if they are still out committing acquisitive crimes (robberies, shoplifting, burglaries etc) to get money to pay for the drug they really want, rather than the drug they are given, the scheme is not working.

Now this article is not about Heroin in the UK it is about the failed war on drugs in total.

Just like the war on terror which will never be won by dropping bombs from drones on Pakistani villagers, especially with a 49 innocent victims to a single Terrorist kill rate. The war on drugs is a war that will never be won.

This is due to evolved human beings innate desire to give themselves a "rush" whether it be through natural highs like exercise, adrenaline rushes from bungee jumps or chemical highs from stimulant drugs or their desire to block out the pain of a cruel and horrible world that we live in (some worlds more horrible than others) through downers whether it be drinking alcohol, popping pills or smoking opium.

Since the beginning of time man has been altering his mental state with naturally growing herbs, mushrooms and plants and if you are a religious person then you must be a believer in Genesis in which it states quite clearly that God filled the world with plants for man's use.

Why would God bother creating the Opium poppy, Marijuana plants, Salvia, Magic Mushrooms, the Coca plant and all the other naturally occurring vegetation that covers the earth yet also changes man's mental or physical state when consumed?

Also if you are a believer in States rights as many Republicans are or you see the Federal Government as an all too powerful system that infringes on the right of the state to make their own choices then surely you would be supportive of these ballot initiatives to legalise pot in Colarado and Washington?

If you are hypocritical enough to hold both positions at the same time e.g you want more state rights for the things "you believe in" whilst denying those other fellow citizens then I think you should take the pledge Cenk Uygur gave out on the Young Turks show the other night.

ANTI STATES RIGHT'S PLEDGE

"I have never actually believed in state's rights. Every time I mentioned it I was lying. I promise to never, ever mention it again as long as I shall live."

Not only should Republicans who rattle on about State Rights but support the failed war on drugs make this pledge but so should President Obama who has appointed a right wing, Bush era, Czar to head the DEA - Michele Leonhart.

This should be a sign to anyone on the right who thinks Obama is actually a progressive liberal that he is nothing of the sort. For if he were a true liberal he would be dismantling the failed structures that incarcerate so many people in US prisons every year for mere pot possession. Instead he would be embracing the wind of change that is floating from state to state not battle it with the full force of the Federal government.

That is what a real progressive and liberal President would do.

The fact that he is promising a war against the states who have legalised marijuana for recreational use and already attacked states that have medicinal marijuana shops PROVES he is a right of centre politician and no liberal.

You can watch the Young Turks video in which Cenk Uygur asks hypocritical states rights enthusiasts who don't believe in the ballots to legalise marijuana to make the Anti States Pledge.