NY Times article series on what to do about the problem of drugs in Latin America

[onepot]

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/05/30/should-latin-america-end-the-war-on-drugs

Overall, the majority of the writers were in favor of legalization or decriminalization to various extents and with various caveats. And the ones that weren't, as usual, showed the typical amount of willful ignorance of the complexities of the issue. But I think this is really important, since a lot of the very worst consequences of the drug war are the ones we don't even see in the US, because they occur outside of our borders. The number of people killed as a result of drug violence in Latin America dwarfs the number killed by drug abuse in the US, and if drugs were decriminalized, it's unlikely that they would even kill more people who use them.

 

[phr]

There is a strong assumption that goes unchallenged, that once the illegal drug industry is closed, those who sell drugs will be able to successfully exit criminal life and enter the legal labor market. This may not be true.

A significant number of young, uneducated and armed people would suddenly become unemployed. Those previously engaged in drug trafficking operations won’t be easily absorbed into legal jobs because they do not have the required skills. Most traffickers have no experience outside the illegal industry and no formal education. Most important, many already have faced criminal charges.

You know what, I don't give a fuck about what happens to the dealers. They chose to sell and they can choose other employment options. I am concerned about the users who don't receive (adequate) help and have their lives ruined by their 'disease' or whatever punishment they receive from the gov't for having it.

 

[onepot]

You know what, I don't give a fuck about what happens to the dealers. They chose to sell and they can choose other employment options. I am concerned about the users who don't receive (adequate) help and have their lives ruined by their 'disease' or whatever punishment they receive from the gov't for having it.

If you noticed, all of the comments were extremely critical of that essay. The way I see it, all these other crimes that the author is afraid these guys will start committing if drugs are no longer their main source of income, they're already committing anyway, mostly against police and other gangs. It's just that because of the drug money, they can afford huge arsenals of illegal weapons.

 

[Herbal~Jah]

^^ For real, making all drugs legal won't put hundreds of thousands of ex-drug dealers running around just randomly robbing and killing people.. the reason there is a whole "mystic" about the "ghetto" in the first place is because of the drugs. No more drug dealing happening in the so called 'ghetto' would over generations lead to a better community due to have drugs legal and a whole new generation of young black men won't have to jump threw the hurdles of growing up in those kind of areas with all the drugs and shit and most importantly WON'T HAVE frivolous charges slammed on their records for possession of marijuana or any other drug for that matter.8(