McCain can't refute Police Officer who Wants to End Drug War

[yurbud]

Run time: 05:58 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y80hDil6zEI   Posted on YouTube: November 20, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: February 01, 2008 By DU Member: yurbud Views on DU: 548

 
I don't think the Democrats are going to touch this either, but it's worth a look.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. sounds like McCain has a slight clue as far as first time offenders go..

but he completely discounted this man's question while at the same time pandering to his 'service'.

blech.

[yurbud]

2. it might be time for a deficit cutting argument for legalizing pot. something like half of drug

enforcement goes to that.

[DCKit]

4. Half our drug enforcement dollars are spent digging up...WHAT?

Over 99% of the "farms" the DEA and other agencies have dug up the last few years are, in their own vernacular, "ditchweed", a.k.a. HEMP. You'd have to process a ton to get enough THC to get one person high.

The next obvious target? Daffodils.

[ixion]

3. demonizing drugs, as McCain does here, is really part and parcel of the problem

people have used drugs for thousands of years, and nothing that the government does is going to change that. Prohibition didn't work for this reason. All prohibition did was to make the situation worse. Repealing prohibition made things better. So it goes with drugs. Want to take money out of the hands of organized crime? Legalize and regulate drugs, just as is done with alcohol. The "one or two drinks" example he mentioned is a red herring, because you can obviously drink more, and most people do.

The way to keep our families, neighborhoods and society safe is to legalize drugs and take the money of organized crime, and put it back into communities.

If someone commits a crime such as robbery, assault, etc, they should be punished for that crime. But to criminalize something that EVERYONE does (if you count pharmaceuticals as drugs, which they are) is not a viable solution, and will only lead to more heartache and sorry and the continued desecration of our social fabric.

[democracyindanger]

5. I think it was a Republican governor in New Mexico

some years back that was completely against the "War" on Drugs. A whole lot of police around the nation have the same viewpoint as the questioner--that the "war" is a failure and is more of a problem than solution.

[L0oniX]

6. Gee 1 million non violent drug offenders incarcerated times $40k per year =

way too much money. It seems as though we are also being punished by using our tax revenue to house these pot heads. I suppose it isn't as bad as all the money wasted on murdering innocent Iraqi people.

[yurbud]

7. wouldn't it be cheaper just to leave them in their parents' basements and garages?

their natural habitat?