(Video) Cops on the drug war

[Asgaya Dihi]

I've posted about LEAP in the past but don't think I've ever posted the video since it's fairly new. If you want to see a group of police chiefs, narcotics cops with anti-terrorism experience, and others of the sort comment about the failures of our drug war, this 12 minute video should give you a quick glimpse of the problem from a cops perspective.

http://leap.cc/audiovideo/LEAPpromo.htm

A couple of my favorite topics covered was that back in the early 1900's we decided a given number of addicts was too much so we made drugs illegal, then in the 60's we decided that having the same number of addicts was still unacceptable so we stepped up to drug war, and now today we still have about the same number of addicts. The only thing that changed was it became more damaging as we escalated our efforts. The insight on what happens to that empty corner when you lock up a leader and how their underlings fight for control was useful as well.

There was a thread posted yesterday in breaking news about another teen who was killed in our juvenile justice system, this one was suffocated by the guards themselves. Thread listing that if you're interested can be found at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2265942&mesg_id=2265942

That type of thing happens a lot, to kids and to adults, many of who shouldn't have been there in the first place. But don't take my word for it, listen to some cops. When you take someone and isolate them with animals, treat them like an animal, you create new animals where we used to have just a kid with poor judgment.

As far as solutions, I wrote a long rambling post yesterday that sank quickly to the bottom ;) Feel free to take a look if you want, but maybe I included a bit too much detail for a first post in the thread.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1110333&mesg_id=1110333

[phusion]

1. That's a great video...

thanks for the link. I think that would be great to send to family members, etc. as an intro to the idea of legalization. These police officers, DAs, etc. have a lot of authority on the issue. :)

[Swamp Rat]

2. Thanks for the link

I will be forwarding it to friends in law enforcement.

[Asgaya Dihi]

3. No problem

It might be worth noting that many of them have also been published, if you're looking for arguments to help change minds they also have a lot of stuff in the publications section of the site, as well as more videos and audio in the audio/video section of all places ;) Sometimes a video won't do but a good sourced quote will.

[Poll_Blind]

4. This is a REALLY good video- well worth the time! n/t

PB

[XOKCowboy]

5. K&R Excellent Video

Cops talking sense. What a surprise. Good for them.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. $65 billion spent per year arresting dealers and users...

just think, if we funneled that money into education and re-hab we could heal people instead of putting them in prison.

I tried for 4 years to get help for my habit, but the programs were always full.

[XOKCowboy]

7. $65B PER YEAR

They made a good point about privatized prisons lobbying for harsher sentences. Isn't the "free market" a wonderful thing. The stats about black imprisonment were also very impressive.

Also KICK. People need to see this.

[Us vs Them]

8. Good points!

I wish we could take that sixty some billion dollars and invest it back in our communities.

[TroubleMan]

9. Well...I tried to recommend it, but it's been over 24 hours.

Great video, though.