Cops Like Me Say Legalize All Drugs. Here’s Why.

I wish we could have everyone get on board with this. It won't fix much in the grand scheme of how fucked up the US is, but it's a compassionate start.

 

I could go on forever on this subject and found this article enlightening, and pleasantly surprising to see that some cops understand some of the laws they are supposed to enforce are ineffectual and usually arbitrary. When it comes to the drug war, i hope more cops open their eyes to the bigger picture and treat non-violent addicts like human beings with serious disorders.

As do I, fellow BLer. As do I.

 

^ and ^^ agreed and I think we all could

Needle exchanges do not harm anybody but the users still seem to share the needles; especially if there is any limit on the quantity of needles they can use.

This is not a fact or personal experience. One multivariate study gave this conclusion. There does not appear to be much evidence which refutes it.

[Not to change the subject or anything :D but since we are talking about Exchanges here...]

Plus the rates of HIV/Hep C transmission have come down significantly among IDUs in areas with needle exchanges or where you can legally buy needles OTC.

Here's a little bedtime story for you guys and gals: Before HIV/Hep C became well known, sharing rigs was almost a part of certain drug cultures, and before HIV there were still a shit load of risks to this. Why was sharing so popular? Because getting needles was extremely difficult for the average user and getting caught with them was tantamount to getting caught with your drugs. So in a way, it made absolute sense to share them - and under similar circumstances it still does, even if it's a horrible idea.

Check out the histories of early Xs and before them underground exchange programs/groups/organizers, like New York Through the Eye of a Needle. Don't you just love the expression "subcutaneous activity on the street"? Genious!! And remember this is '93 here, but do notice all the similarities - and the differences - with the situation today. History fun, ain't it?! %)

That article was what helped get me interested and inevitably working at exchanges across the states. I'll never forget the time I first read it, especially since it was around the same time I discovered my love of long acting full agonist opioids

 

the drug war is failed. it does not help addicts become part of society. i have been arrested for drugs before and treated like a god damn murderer while in jail. i was in jail next to rapist and people that kicked peoples doors in for getting caught with mushies at a festival. luckily i completed probation and can get it off my record. but after being on probation and seeing how something like a relapse would get me sent to jail, i realized how flawed the drug war is. having a punishment is not the way to help people get clean. they need therapy and rehab and a support group, not a jail cell. addicts are people to, many trying to turn their life around after they have had enough. society needs to help us become better people, not turn their backs. my two cents

 

the drug war is failed. it does not help addicts become part of society. i have been arrested for drugs before and treated like a god damn murderer while in jail. i was in jail next to rapist and people that kicked peoples doors in for getting caught with mushies at a festival. luckily i completed probation and can get it off my record. but after being on probation and seeing how something like a relapse would get me sent to jail, i realized how flawed the drug war is. having a punishment is not the way to help people get clean. they need therapy and rehab and a support group, not a jail cell. addicts are people to, many trying to turn their life around after they have had enough. society needs to help us become better people, not turn their backs. my two cents

That's terrible man, I'm sincerely sorry that you had to deal with this shit - and for what? Because of a plant, powder, or pill in your pocket for personal use?

You're absolutely correct - this war on (certain) drugs is utterly ridiculous, and it amazes me that people continue to view us as heinous, felonious, irrational individuals, and in general like lesser human beings who deserve to die in a ditch somewhere out of sight.

It's like a slow motion, politically correct version of the Jewish holocaust.

They were singled out as scapegoats because a bunch of German and Austrian fascists were tired of their shitty quality of life. Well, at the time, they were experiencing 'the dirty 30s' (the great depression), so what were they expecting? And the answer to that question is probably "we are aware but there is a vulnerable minority race which we will blame."

We were singled out as scapegoats because of a bunch of racist fascists - who wore/wear democratic masks in public to hide their true identities - because we were an easy target to blame for everything wrong with society. And as the years passed by, they continued to point their fingers at us while they drank like fish and smoked like chimneys.

If only the public knew the truth regarding how dirty their government really is; how much needless suffering is directly due to them, we'd be experiencing another civil war in America perhaps.

 

If only the public knew the truth regarding how dirty their government really is; how much needless suffering is directly due to them, we'd be experiencing another civil war in America perhaps.

I'd think twice about that.
I've heard the sentiment that people 'get the government they deserve/want', and despite many glaring exceptions to this, I think there's something to it. In the context of prohibition, I think it's that people don't want it (and I think that's because they are ill-informed on the subject), not that the public is dying for it and the gov is just withholding. I mean, I think of my state where we recently had a vote for medical-only marijuana legalization, and like 42% of the citizens of FL voted that marijuana should be illegal for patients whose doctors recommend it. That says something (something scary)

 

I'd think twice about that.
I've heard the sentiment that people 'get the government they deserve/want', and despite many glaring exceptions to this, I think there's something to it. In the context of prohibition, I think it's that people don't want it (and I think that's because they are ill-informed on the subject), not that the public is dying for it and the gov is just withholding. I mean, I think of my state where we recently had a vote for medical-only marijuana legalization, and like 42% of the citizens of FL voted that marijuana should be illegal for patients whose doctors recommend it. That says something (something scary)

It may suggest that democratic due process isn't being observed and respected, and more specifically that "majority vote" don't mean shit.

It may suggest that the citizens of Florida have been lied to by their government for decades, and, that 'too many' of them continue to believe in the nonsense they were taught growing up. Thankfully however, it appears that public opinion is slowly but surely shifting in the opposite direction.

Unfortunately, a majority vote in Florida means at least 60% - that's disturbing, as is the news regarding the rich prohibitionist who 'donated' over $5,000,000 to the "no" campaign. In my opinion, there should be a federal level crackdown regarding the use of large sums of money by "the 1%" in order to get their corresponding government elected representative to assume the behavior of a puppet, but I digress.

Florida is also in the top 3 states (IIRC) with respect to highest median age. Clearly / obviously it's very popular with retirees - the majority of which are probably conservative-minded.

 

yeah it was primarily sheldon adelson who funded most of the opposition. and a majority here is 50% like anywhere, although this amendment needed a 'super-majority' of 60%

And i agree it is likely more than issue oF FUD than pure ignorance on the citizen's part, but it's hard to act like the gov is the only party here that's not looking to legalize stuff- 42% of floridians who voted, voted sick ppl with a dr's reco shouldn't be able to legally smoke bud. that is insane.

 

It may suggest that democratic due process isn't being observed and respected, and more specifically that "majority vote" don't mean shit.

I thought that was to be taken for granted?

 

The war on drugs has to end. It's hurting too many people. People are not going to stop trying to get buzzed. Pretty much any drug that has little to to toxicity should get lelalized(or at least decriminalized). Some drugs which are undistinguishable from other drugs in common drug tests might be decriminalized. The nation and the world is becoming a place where there are more stoners and transhumanists in jail than there are actual criminals. The should arrests ACTUAL GANGS, and not stigmitize users and abusers. Educating is the answer. A nation where a an addict of toxic drugs can't get help or get a job or get federal funding for college and a user of non-toxic drugs gets convicted because of occasional use of a non-toxic drug is not cool. Drug laws are based on political rhetoric, not science. Where's the mercy? Where's the science? Where's the strategy? If people were educated, they wouldn't fall into the political mouse trap. Politicians are using Incarcerex to help get and maintain their err, ur, election. ELECTION!
[video=youtube;TRPxN7DGy5c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRPxN7DGy5c[/video]

 

Thanks so much for the video--shared via FB (ah, the irony....).

 

Brilliant video share SkyblueMolly

My only regret is that it took me 7 years since it was uploaded to YouTube for me to see it for the first time.

The other thing is that, given the huge gains we've made in the past few years in the grand scheme of things with respect to undoing this disgraceful war on drugs, the video almost seems like it's ahead of its time. I know ~7.5 years ago isn't really that long, but still, wow, I'm genuinely impressed.

 

LEAP sounds awesome, man.

That is a good start! A very well written piece. Good work and good luck!

 

I honestly believe the "war on drugs" is really just a war on our personal freedom. Instead of throwing addicts in jail hopefully they decide to go to rehab if not, well it's only a matter of time before they die. Why bother wasting thousands of tax dollars in incarcerating people who don't want to change. I try not to judge people I've had friends die because of drugs I've also seen people forced into jail sentences and once they got out it was the same thing. To each their own.

 

Welcome to BL

Instead of throwing addicts in jail hopefully they decide to go to rehab if not, well it's only a matter of time before they die

depends on the substance. I MJ addict may end up living longer than most. An opium addict can live a long time. An alcoholic usually does not live very long, but some seem to live forever. A herion addict can live a very long time and the longevity of their lives would increase greatly if they knew what and of what quality they were getting. I think cafine addicts can live a long time.

So I totally agree with you that its a war on freedom.. its about control, oppression, extortion, power and profit. But addiction is not such a clear cut death or sobriety sentence.

 

I honestly believe the "war on drugs" is really just a war on our personal freedom. Instead of throwing addicts in jail hopefully they decide to go to rehab if not, well it's only a matter of time before they die. Why bother wasting thousands of tax dollars in incarcerating people who don't want to change. I try not to judge people I've had friends die because of drugs I've also seen people forced into jail sentences and once they got out it was the same thing. To each their own.

Chances are that, for the people who were locked up, their drugs of choice were available in there as well.

Prison is not the punctual, orderly, self-redeeming place that people on the outside watching National Geographic are led to believe.

 

Chances are that, for the people who were locked up, their drugs of choice were available in there as well.

Prison is not the punctual, orderly, self-redeeming place that people on the outside watching National Geographic are led to believe.

You think National Geographic, "... join a gang or live without protection", leads people to believe these are orderly places?

 

You think National Geographic, "... join a gang or live without protection", leads people to believe these are orderly places?

"... join a gang or live without protection" - Sounds more like a line from a Steven Seagal direct to DVD prison flick, but I'll bite:

I think that whenever a tv or documentary film crew is scheduled to film inside places such as Rikers Island and San Quentin, the guards are on their best behavior; their 'by the book' faces and body language.

Once the reels stop recording, and third parties are not present is when their usual boar and sow savoir-faire resurfaces. They can easily and covertly break a man's mind and body over nothing; over something trivial. Of them, the emotionally unstable and inherently sensitive are especially butthurt and volatile when they are dealing with an inmate on their shitlist.

The fishes are fickle - particularly with a camera pointed their way. Perhaps they know better than to cry wolf on air; perhaps they don't give a shit, but I digress.

 

Best wishes on this ....behind you 100%.

 

People who view the world or are informed of its goings ons primarily from their TVs have a most distorted view of it - take Law and Order for example. Couldn't portray the criminal justice system more inaccurately, although it does serve as ideal propaganda for it. Don't get me started on the blaring falicies of the vast majority of popular shows out there (perhaps with the exception of The Wire, bod gless its soul).

 

Emphasis mine. Sigh.

This opinion piece is not unique. I've read quite a few like it in the mainstream media. Look through the archives of DiTM. I'll actually get excited when I read one by a police officer who's still on active duty in the force, and is actively doing something about the racket called the War on Drugs from the inside. The fact that we don't see this just lends support for the idea that most American cops and other justice system workers depend on a steady stream of drug-related arrests for their livelihoods.

Mane if its anybody in Oklahoma city that has some 30s or H for sale hit my inbox...my doctors are bullshit I have MRIs XRAYS AND BARELY WALKING AROUND THIS COLD ASS CITY SO I DONT GIVE A CARE ABOUT WHAT LAWS SAY WHEN IM HURTING AND CANT FUNCTION EACH DAY TO TAKE CARE OF MYSELF! I NEED medicine//DRUGS NOW