BUI at anchor... experiences?

[Bruce626]

I agree that drug use should be legalized and decriminalized by creating a regulated state monopoly - 'package store' to handle the distribution of the designer drug equivalents of popular recreational drugs. It is clear that the 'war on drugs' has been lost - and indeed, was never viable as was shown by the 'war on alcohol' otherwise known as prohibition. Having failed to learn from the historical precedent, we now need to end the current fiasco by following the same general plan.

A cursory examination of regulation will show that governments cannot keep drugs out of prisons - places where they have much more control than they will ever have in the larger society. This shows that the criminalization of drugs has created huge nacro businesses and even narco states based on the obscene amount of profit that making these substances illegal has generated - and essentially, anyone who wants these substances can easily obtain them anyway.

The way forward is to take the profit out of the drugs by making them legal to use, and obtainable at cost via state monopolies. Using the drug equivalents made in laboratories makes them easier to control and collapses the illicit supply chain from grower to transporter to dealer. The war on drugs can only succeed in making these substances dearer by restricting supply - but since demand remains unchanged, the profits only increase.

Once the profit is gone, these criminal enterprises can no longer maintain the expensive private armies to guard their product and pay the bribes and graft that wreak havoc on governments. As their expensive supply chains collapse and their grip on public officials wanes, these organizations must get out of this failing business model and move to other sources of income. As alternative - illegal - sources of supply dry up, society can slowly impose greater restrictions on legal sources and tax the product to fund advertisement and rehab programs until a relatively small 'background' level of use is established and maintained. Long term this will also reduce incarceration and other justice system costs; this is especially true if the government provides low or no cost drugs to individuals who declare themselves to be addicts. Furnishing drugs to these individuals for maintenance of their habit will likely lead to a large reduction in petty crime currently committed to fund these addictions. Once they are identified, they can be encouraged to engage in rehab programs. In my opinion this is a much more logical method of solving the drug problem that the current system which has brought us massive gang problems, prison costs, and even internal wars such as that being waged in Mexico and enabling the existence of narco states.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by foggysail

As stated---"
No need for me to continue banging the drum, people will use them as they please but that does not make it right. The harm continues."

While it would not help your particular situation (which is sad and I feel for you and those affected ) there is much more overall harm in our society due to the (failed) war on drugs.

It might even perhaps be true that if they were "supervised" with known product they would still be around today.

[micah719]

"

Once the profit is gone, these criminal enterprises can no longer maintain the expensive private armies to guard their product and pay the bribes and graft that wreak havoc on governments. "

Once the profit is gone, these governments can no longer maintain the expensive private armies to guard their product and pay the bribes and graft that wreak havoc on citizens.

The WoD is running just the way it was designed....as is the WoT. Fancy that, a war on an emotion....surreal, eh?

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Bruce626

I agree that drug use should be legalized and decriminalized by creating a regulated state monopoly - 'package store' to handle the distribution of the designer drug equivalents of popular recreational drugs. It is clear that the 'war on drugs' has been lost - and indeed, was never viable as was shown by the 'war on alcohol' otherwise known as prohibition. Having failed to learn from the historical precedent, we now need to end the current fiasco by following the same general plan.

A cursory examination of regulation will show that governments cannot keep drugs out of prisons - places where they have much more control than they will ever have in the larger society. This shows that the criminalization of drugs has created huge nacro businesses and even narco states based on the obscene amount of profit that making these substances illegal has generated - and essentially, anyone who wants these substances can easily obtain them anyway.

The way forward is to take the profit out of the drugs by making them legal to use, and obtainable at cost via state monopolies. Using the drug equivalents made in laboratories makes them easier to control and collapses the illicit supply chain from grower to transporter to dealer. The war on drugs can only succeed in making these substances dearer by restricting supply - but since demand remains unchanged, the profits only increase.

Once the profit is gone, these criminal enterprises can no longer maintain the expensive private armies to guard their product and pay the bribes and graft that wreak havoc on governments. As their expensive supply chains collapse and their grip on public officials wanes, these organizations must get out of this failing business model and move to other sources of income. As alternative - illegal - sources of supply dry up, society can slowly impose greater restrictions on legal sources and tax the product to fund advertisement and rehab programs until a relatively small 'background' level of use is established and maintained. Long term this will also reduce incarceration and other justice system costs; this is especially true if the government provides low or no cost drugs to individuals who declare themselves to be addicts. Furnishing drugs to these individuals for maintenance of their habit will likely lead to a large reduction in petty crime currently committed to fund these addictions. Once they are identified, they can be encouraged to engage in rehab programs. In my opinion this is a much more logical method of solving the drug problem that the current system which has brought us massive gang problems, prison costs, and even internal wars such as that being waged in Mexico and enabling the existence of narco states.