Obama: 'Drug legalisation not the answer to drug war'

[xchrom]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17716926

US President Barack Obama has said that legalising drugs is not the answer to the problems caused by the trafficking of illegal narcotics in the Americas.

Mr Obama told a gathering of leading executives in Colombia ahead of the Summit of the Americas that legalisation could worsen the problem.

But he said that he was open to a debate about the issue.

The US president was responding to demands by regional leaders for a new drug war strategy.

[denverbill]

1. Yes, the answer is to keep doing what we've been doing for 50 years which hasn't worked.

That should fix it.

[ljm2002]

40. It has worked very well actually...

...if you think about what the PTB really want to happen.

The MIC and police forces worldwide have profited handsomely from the War On Some Drugs.

The private prisons have made out like bandits.

People of color continue to be disproportionately jailed for drug-related crimes, including the use of marijuana, one of the most innocuous substances known to humankind.

The CIA has been able to fund its black ops without turning to Congress. While they get money from Congress too, it's really nice when they can have their own funding stream that exists without oversight.

It also allows politicians to demonize whole classes of people, like the poor; and to promote drug testing that is done (surprise, surprise) by companies in whom they have invested (see: Florida's governor Rick Scott).

It allows "treatments" that don't work at all, in the cases where people are allowed to seek treatment rather than be imprisoned (see: methadone treatment, which substitutes one addiction for another, and allows control and dehumanization of addicts).

It allows them to put all illegal drugs under a blanket term "drugs", and therefore to control the conversation. You will NEVER hear a politician making an argument based on the known effects of one drug vs another (for example: heroin, while highly addictive, does not do lasting physical harm to the system; while meth and cocaine do; also, they will never discuss the natural non-refined forms vs. the highly refined forms; and along those lines, they will never discuss the benefits of the natural forms, and their traditional usage, such as coca leaves helping with altitude sickness).

It allows them to continue to foment the idea that only the Big Beneficent Corporations can provide drugs. Anything we can grow ourselves must be eradicated!!!

It allows them to continue to push alcohol and tobacco, even though the ill effects of both are well known. It allows them to talk about alcohol and tobacco as though they AREN'T drugs, which is of course ridiculous.

Yes, it has worked very well indeed for the 1%. Not so great for the rest of us.

[HiPointDem]

45. +1. When apparent failures continue despite their fail, you gotta figure someone's making bank

and someone's lying to you.

[Autumn]

2. Yep, just keep up with the failed

war on drugs. That will work.

[villager]

3. "By 'change,' in other words, I want to stress I didn't mean 'change.'"

n/t

[OccupyTheIRS]

8. I think maybe he meant "Change"

As in, "Accelerate the downward slope of Bush"

[SOS]

4. If Obama had been President in 1932:

"US President Barack Obama has said that legalizing alcohol is not the answer to the problems caused by the trafficking of illegal alcohol."

Al Capone agrees.

[tridim]

5. Ok, what about Cannabis legalization?

Something an actual majority of the people support.

And I wish he'd stop using the term "legalization". Most people support DECRIMINALIZATION, but not wholesale legalization of substances like meth and heroin. You don't have to legalize all drugs to end the drug war.

[russspeakeasy]

7. Excellent...

[anti-alec]

18. Therefore, your assertion that Obama supports MMJ is defeated.

Thanks for your acknowledging your error.

[tridim]

24. This issue has exactly nothing to do with Obama's support of MMJ in legal states.

Nice try.

[anti-alec]

58. Nice weasel..

I'm going to let it go for once...

We all know where Obama stands, and he doesn't stand for us.

[russspeakeasy]

6. "New" strategy ? What is our old one ?

[xiamiam]

9. he is open to debate? puh-lease...nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

21. He is open to saying he is open to debate. Actual debate? Not so much.

The administration has made its position quite clear.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. An I like to cynically put it

way too many people on both sides are making fortunes.

[RC]

11. Hog wash! Absolute and total hogwash.

What we are doing now has obviously not been working since its inception. We need to try something different for a change.

The lessons learned during Alcohol Prohibition have been lost in the Drug War.
Most of the so-called designer drugs can be directly tied to the drug war on the 'natural' drugs.
Regulation for the lesser harmful drugs is the answer. Treat the rest of the "illegal drugs" the same as either tobacco or alcohol or like prescriptions drugs.
Stop killing and imprisoning people for trying to cope or even for trying to survive.

[Mimosa]

67. RC you're right.

I feel sad for the younger people whose experimentation put them on the track into prisons.

The criminalization disproportionately affects blacks.

[sadbear]

12. President Obama supporting legalization

is the best way to make drugs permanently illegal. I'm afraid it's going to take a republican president to at least get marijuana decriminalized.

[customerserviceguy]

29. There is an old saying on Vulcan

"Only Nixon can go to China." I had to say, I laughed my butt off in the theater. But I hope you're not right.

Maybe after the election, the President will feel he has more "flexibility".

[otohara]

13. Fine, Don't Legalize Heroin

weed is not a narcotic and he knows that.

[intheflow]

15. Exactly. n/t

[OnyxCollie]

14. Expect large campaign contribution from Corrections Corporation of America in 3, 2, 1...

[Rex]

16. True, that would save us trillions every year and we cannot have that.

The DEA means JOBS!

[abelenkpe]

17. Wrong. Nt

[progressoid]

19. "open to a debate"

Open to a debate but not to change.

[kenny blankenship]

20. Go easy on him folks

If he wasn't a hypocrite on this subject too, he'd be inconsistent.

[KG]

28. righteous.

[Zorra]

22. Yeh. Just as the fracking drug war is not the answer to the problem of destructive drug usage.

Last edited Sun Apr 15, 2012, 02:50 PM - Edit history (2)

The drug war is primarily about protecting the 1% and their economic interests.

The 1% needs an excuse to have to present to taxpayers for having the government employ massive numbers of law enforcement personnel to protect them (the 1%) and their economic interests.

(Note: I don't use illegal drugs, and do not promote the use of illegal drugs. I have, however, used some illegal drugs in the distant past)

If there was no drug war, the number of cops of all stripes employed to "protect society" could probably be cut by at least 50%.

Approximate number of people incarcerated for drug related crimes:

108,000 people in federal prisons as of April 2010
280,000 people in state prisons across the country as of June 2007
31,500 people in California state prisons as of December 2008

Let's expand a bit by putting it into perspective, and that means understanding how many total people are incarcerated for all crimes:

211,455 inmates at federal prisons as of April 2010
1,395,916 inmates in state prisons as of June 2007
171,161 inmates in California as of December 2008

http://open.salon.com/blog/stephannie/2010/05/16/how_many_people_are_incarcerated_for_drug_related_offenses

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm

About 50% of federal prison inmates, and 20% of state prison inmates nationwide are in prison due to drug related crimes, and those may be low estimates due to the fact that many inmates are probably in prison because of collateral effects related to drug use that are not available to statistics gatherers.

And many of these inmates are incarcerated for offenses related to the deadly drug (sarcasm) marijuana:

Thursday, 12 October 2006

Washington, DC: Nearly one in eight drug prisoners in America are behind bars for marijuana-related offenses, according to data released this week by the US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).

The BJS study, "Drug Use and Dependence, State and Federal Prisoners, 2004," reports that 12.7 percent of state inmates and 12.4 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for drug violations are serving time for marijuana offenses. Combining these percentages with separate US Department of Justice (DOJ) statistics on the total number of state and federal drug prisoners (BJS October 2005 Bulletin: "Prisoners in 2004" -- NCJ 210677) suggests that there are now approximately 33,655 state inmates and 10,785 federal inmates incarcerated for marijuana offenses.

http://norml.org/news/2006/10/12/nearly-one-in-eight-us-drug-prisoners-are-behind-bars-for-pot-taxpayers-spending-over-1-billion-annually-to-incarcerate-pot-offenders

I don't have the answer to the problem of detrimental drug usage, but one thing is clear - the drug war is not, and never will be, a solution.

The drug war is just another expensive (for taxpayers) non-solution to a problem, just like all the other non-solutions to problems that our government employs in order to serve and protect the 1% and their profits.

Just like the invasion and occupation of Iraq, for example. The pain, suffering and/or death, of peasants, is just another unpleasant side effect of the eternal quest for profit by the 1%.

It doesn't matter if it doesn't work, and will clearly never work. We'll simply continue to employ destructive ineffective methods as long as it serves the profit interests of the 1%.

Occupy

[piratefish08]

23. Of course it isn't.

we got room for more prisons. fuck, lots of em.




more jobs.

[Seedersandleechers]

25. Obama is not a stupid politician

Making a statement that he would like to legalize drugs would be handing the presidency to Romney. Sad as that is.

[boxman15]

26. Yeah, no one can be seen as weak on crime.

It's bullshit, but that's how it's been since 1969 and Nixon's "Law and Order" presidency, and especially since Reagan.

It's possible that Obama may go forward with some changes in the drug war in a second term, but I doubt it. And he certainly won't run on it.

[SomethingFishy]

30. So making a statement that a majority of Americans support

would be throwing away the election, but continuing a policy that has been failing for 50 fucking years is a brilliant political strategy?



Yeah right.

[Seedersandleechers]

37. Where did I say it was a brilliant strategy?

If you weren't rolling on the floor so much maybe you'd see that was NOT my point!

[SomethingFishy]

41. OK I've stopped rolling.. maybe you can tell me what your point was

Because in your post you claim that Obama doing what a majority of Americans want is akin to "handing the election to Romney".

Sorry if I thought that you meant what you wrote. My bad.

[Seedersandleechers]

46. I read the article to mean Obama is against the legalization of drugs.

Yes, I understand the majority is in favor of legalizing MJ, but that's not what the article states. Legalization of drugs to me means all drugs (of which I approve) and says nothing of just MJ. So show me where the majority of americans want legalization of all drugs.

[Fumesucker]

48. There wasn't any wiggle room in Obama's statement..

He is against the legalization of any and all drugs, including marijuana..

Obama is intelligent enough to make a nuanced statement if his position was indeed nuanced, clearly it isn't.

[SomethingFishy]

50. Not only is the man against legalization he's against anyone who

disagrees with him as can be seen in states now under attack by the Obama Justice Dept for allowing sick people to use marijuana as medication.

He's attacking LEGAL MARIJUANA. In places where the MAJORITY OF PEOPLE VOTED FOR IT.

You know I see a lot of disingenuous shit on DU but this defense of Obama and the drug war is the worst of it. I'l give you two reasons why Obama's position is bad for his candidacy.

First, Obama is not picking up any votes by expanding the 50 year failed war on drugs. Not one fucking Republican is going to decide to vote for Obama because of his stance on the drug war. Not a single one.

Second. He's WRONG. WRONG WRONG WRONG. Time and time again the so called "war on drugs" has proven to be a dismal failure. On the scale of epically stupid things to waste fucking money on in this economy, the War On Drugs takes the cake.

[Seedersandleechers]

55. What about independents who "they" say is going to decide the election?

Do you think the majority of them will vote for Obama on a legalization of drugs platform? I don't, but I totally get/agree with what you are saying and would love to see the war on drugs end. I'm pessimistic/realistic that I will never see this in my lifetime. With all of Obama's faults - I'll still take him over any republican and that is my point.

[xchrom]

59. It's been proven time & again through polls 'independant'

Is a myth.

We know who they are & we know largely how they vote.

They don't 'swing' wildly from one election to the next.

W/ the possible exception of 08 when every one except a select few heard a Progressive
Message of change.

They were willing to hear a way forward different from 'bipartisan' progression.

Didn't happen.

Now outside of how freaked out the electorate might be on women - we are left w/ the same old - same old.

[Rex]

47. The 'moral majority' disagrees with you.

It just is not open for debate. We get it.

[Gregorian]

27. It sure beats throwing people in jail. Obama, stop listening to your lobbyists.

[cthulu2016]

31. hypocrite

Did he go on to explain how if the war on drugs worked more efficiently he would never have graduated college, let alone been president?

[Marrah_G]

32. President Obama is really lucky he was never caught

If he had been his life would have turned out very different. Yet he doesn't seem to have an issue the continuation of these laws who do society far more damage then they do good.

[marlakay]

33. I am beginning to think he is listening to Michelle

not others and it has more to do with his kids becoming teenagers….

I am voting for legalizing pot in my state, but I get it, for 25 years I didn't go near pot because of raising my kids.

[TheKentuckian]

36. No, much better than young folks like Sasha and Malia have their lives ruined over some highly silly

bullshit in place for profit scamming and repression of minorities.

I guess the Obama's feel they have all the loot and connections to avoid any chickens coming home to roost and fuck the hundreds of thousands and millions just like them with less money and no powerful friends.

Such sadsack rationales only serve to make me more angry and less forgiving because they are hypocritical bullshit that place the fake needs of the few over the real needs of the many.

[SomethingFishy]

34. "Intelligent solutions are not the answer to the drug war"

The answer is to do EVEN MORE of the same stupid shit we have been doing for years. It hasn't been working so far but if we put the DEA together with the Military, the CIA, the FBI and Local Law Enforcement then we can stop the scourge of people eating too many fucking twinkies.

[Vehl]

35. If pot should be(remain) banned, so should tobacco

Tobacco based products such as cigarettes do more hard to the human body than pot smoking does. Multiple studies have shown this, however the government will not ban cigarettes because too many big corporations will stand to lose money.


And no...I have never smoked(be it pot or tobacco)...but I support the cause of those who want to decriminalize pot.

[Egalitarian Thug]

38. I thought only republicans "doubled down on the stupid". Guess I was wrong. n/t

[theaocp]

39. Thanks for telling us what you believe won't work and categorizing all illicit substances as the sam

e. Gawd, what a clownish and immature response. What do you have in mind, Mr. Obama? Christ on a stick, tell your DEA and DoJ to back the fuck off of MMJ in the states, for starters, heya? They shouldn't have any say in the state MMJ anyway, since their authority comes from the Interstate Commerce Clause and MMJ in each state ain't crossing state lines. If it did, they could step in, but they're just running amok and all you can do is tell the brown folks down south what CAN'T be done. Pathetic.

[originalpckelly]

42. Portugal has a different way of doing it.

They treat it as it is: a medical problem.

Perhaps we should stop our war and begin a campaign to end drug addiction by using anti-addiction medicines where available and develop new ones where not?

Another beautiful day in the US of BS.

[Fumesucker]

43. Not all illegal drugs are addictive..

And both of the legal ones are quite addictive..

[randome]

56. Decriminalize, yes. Legalize, no.

And put out money for treatment centers. For all those who want drugs -or just marijuana- legalized, it's time to face the truth -this is the closest you will get to it in our lifetimes.

[Fumesucker]

60. So how does that get the cartels out of the business?

If there is no legal distribution channels the illegal ones *will* continue..

[randome]

63. The illegal channels will continue, regardless.

This does nothing to stop the cartels. It would, however, stop putting people into prison for minor offenses.

[Fumesucker]

65. Why would the illegal channels continue if there are legal channels?

When was the last time you saw a shootout between alcohol distributors?

[randome]

66. Marijuana is not the same as alcohol.

Drawing direct parallels between Prohibition of alcohol and criminalizing marijuana is counter-productive.

Maybe it isn't logical to say they are not the same. But the plain, irrefutable truth is that our society does not treat them as equivalent.

Failing to acknowledge this reality -to me- means people who are in favor of legalization are not serious.

The best that can be hoped for in the interim is to decriminalize usage. Otherwise, you are all banging your heads against a wall for no good effect.

[Fumesucker]

68. No, you claimed that the illegal channels would continue if marijuana was legalized..

Alcohol was once illegal, there were shootouts between illegal alcohol distributors..

Now alcohol is legal again and shootouts among the distributors of that drug are now nothing but a fading memory.

Actually you are right in a way, alcohol and marijuana aren't equivalent, marijuana is far less dangerous..

[randome]

70. The cartels would put their resources into other endeavors.

These are people who will behead children for the parents standing in their way. They sure as hell won't be getting office jobs just because marijuana is legalized.

As for marijuana being less dangerous, that's always a point of contention and, again, it doesn't matter if you think science and rationality are on your side. Our society in general does not see it that way.

The closest we will ever get to having marijuana legalized -at least for now- is to have it decriminalized.

[Fumesucker]

72. Eh, that really makes me enthused..

My daughter very nearly had her entire life ruined over completely false drug charges about fifteen years ago.. It was sheer luck that she decided to get a conceal carry license and the bogus charges showed up in the background check, charges that she never even knew about and never went to court or heard about any other way.. It took the combined efforts of the police chief, a local judge and a lawyer to get the mess straightened out.

There were no court records of any sort on the charges and yet they showed up on her criminal background check..

Perhaps you'll change your tune if something similar happens to someone you care about..

[Fumesucker]

44. Who the fuck *else* are you going to vote for, eh?

Mittens doesn't even consume caffeine, you think *he's* going to end the drug war?

[Rex]

49. I don't think either party will ever do a thing about it.

There is no room for debate. The govt doesn't like drugs unless they are the ones regulating the drug and you simply cannot do that with drugs like weed...it's a weed.

[sad sally]

51. Too bad the President can't be bothered taking advice from this former President

According to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter: "Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private for personal use."
REFERENCE: President Jimmy Carter: Message to Congress, August 2, 1977.

[Initech]

52. Translation: Companies are too busy profiting off the drug war to care.

[Laughing Mirror]

53. In other words, "Richard Nixon and I are on the same page"

It was Nixon who started this so-called "drug war," and it apparently will not be Obama who will end it. Such courage from our president, isn't it.

[Puregonzo1188]

54. Obama admitted to using both marijuana and cocaine, correct?

Does the President feel like he belongs in jail?

[Fumesucker]

62. Clearly he thinks he would have done better if he had been busted for drugs as a youth..

Obama is a Christian and Christians are commanded by their eponymous Savior to abjure hypocrisy.

Indeed, Obama is such a strong Christian that it informs his position on gay marriage.

[tabasco]

57. He's wrong.

[Blue_In_AK]

61. I respectfully disagree. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

64. Sure it is, legalize, decriminalize, educate, medicate, regulate, respect the peoples'

inherent right to privacy, take the profit motive away from the prison/21st century slavery industry and go after the real criminals!

Quit turning the U.S. into a draconian, autocratic, Joseph Stalin wet dream, police state intent on waging war against the American People!

Thanks for the thread, xchrom.

[xchrom]

69. +1

[Jester Messiah]

71. Dammit, Obama...

Get your head out of your ass, Mister President.