How many more cops need to die to end the war on drugs?

It’s violence when men with guns come into your home.  I am not saying violence is okay in return.  I’m just saying it happens.  Had they not entered that man’s home in the first place looking for drugs, they’d not have ended up dead or shot.

If you don’t believe me, go talk to the former cops at Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: http://leap.cc

Do you ever stop to think that maybe if we didn’t have these asinine drug laws none of this would have happened in the first place?

Should all drugs be legal? I don’t know. But I am willing to assert that treating hard drugs as a medical problem rather than a criminal problem would’ve given people more outs. My understanding was that no-knock raids are illegal in NH. Regardless, if one was conducted, I have little sympathy for the LEOs. Lastly, both sides agreed to the risks of the “war” on drugs. Neither drug dealers nor police officers get to flip out about losing members in the “war.” That’s what war is. It doesn’t mean they have to like it, it just means they have to accept it as a possibility. Anyone who things otherwise is an asshole.

Jessi, sarcasm aside, there’s no reason to shoot people and take them hostage if no one is coming after you. Drugs do not cause violent behavior. People do.

Alcohol is a factor in the following:

* 73% of all felonies * 73% of child beating cases * 41% of rape cases * 80% of wife battering cases * 72% of stabbings * 83% of homicides.

According to the Australian National Drug Research Institute (2003): “Tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs are prematurely killing around seven million people worldwide each year, and robbing tens of millions more of a healthy life. The research into the global burden of disease attributable to alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs found that in 2000, tobacco use was responsible for 4.9 million deaths worldwide, equating to 71 percent of all drug-related deaths. Around 1.8 million deaths were attributable to the use of alcohol (26 percent of all drug-related deaths), and illicit drugs (heroin, cocaine and amphetamines) caused approximately 223,000 deaths (3 percent of all drug-related deaths).”

According to DrugRehabs.Org, national mortality figures for 2009 were:  tobacco  435,000;  poor diet and physical inactivity  365,000;  alcohol  85,000; microbial agents  75,000;  toxic agents  55,000; motor vehicle crashes  26,347; adverse reactions to prescription drugs 32,000;  suicide  30,622;  incidents involving firearms  29,000;  homicide  20,308;  sexual behaviors  20,000;  all illicit drug use, direct and indirect  17,000; and marijuana 0.

Researchers led by Professor David Nutt, a former chief drugs adviser to the British government, asked drug-harm experts to rank 20 drugs (legal and illegal) on 16 measures of harm to the user and to wider society, such as damage to health, drug dependency, economic costs and crime. Alcohol scored 72 out of a possible 100, far more damaging than heroin (55) or crack cocaine (54). It is the most harmful to others by a wide margin, and is ranked fourth behind heroin, crack, and methamphetamine (crystal meth) for harm to the individual. 

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/11/drugs_cause_most_harm

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that in the U.S. alone, an estimated 79,000 lives are lost annually due to “excessive” drinking. The study estimates that the overall cost of excessive drinking by Americans is $223.5 billion each year.

http://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(11)00538-1/abstract

Health-related costs per user are eight times higher for those who drink alcohol when compared to those who use marijuana, and are more than 40 times higher for tobacco smokers, according to a 2009 review published in the British Columbia Mental Health and Addictions Journal.

It states, “In terms of [health-related] costs per user: tobacco-related health costs are over $800 per user, alcohol-related health costs are much lower at $165 per user, and cannabis-related health costs are the lowest at $20 per user.”

http://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/publications/cannabis/bck/7

Having three or more alcoholic drinks a day increased lung cancer risk by 30 percent.

“Heavy drinking has multiple harmful effects, including cardiovascular complications and increased risk for lung cancer,” 

- lead researcher Stanton Siu, MD, of Kaiser Permanente

http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/alcohol/heavy-alcohol-consumption-linked-with-greater-lung-cancer-risk

Apart from the fact that legal drugs kill far more people than all the illegal drugs combined, debating whether a particular drug is harmless or not is missing the whole point. Are drugs like Heroin, Meth or Alcohol dangerous? It simply doesn’t matter, because if we prohibit them then we sure as hell know that it makes a bad situation far worse. If someone wants to attempt to enhance or destroy their lives with particular medicines or poisons, that should be their business, not anybody else’s. Their lives aren’t ours to direct. And anyway, who wants to give criminals, terrorists and corrupt law enforcement agents a huge un-taxed, endless revenue stream?

A great many of us are slowly but surely wising up to the fact that the best avenue towards realistically dealing with drug use and addiction is through proper regulation which is what we already do with alcohol & tobacco, clearly two of our most dangerous mood altering substances. But for those of you whose ignorant and irrational minds traverse a fantasy plane of existence, you will no doubt remain sorely upset with any type of solution that does not seem to lead to your absurd and unattainable utopia of a drug free society. 

Snowdog,

“I take offense at those who insist on continuing the violence to try to stop peaceful people from following their dreams and living their lives as they choose.”

That’s fine, but don’t claim that drugs don’t cause violent behavior when that is clearly false.

I’m disappointed to hear that you’re a “medical professional”. In fact, I find it hard to believe, given what you’ve said so far.

You wrote earlier:
“drugs make people violent. It’s medically proven”

Does aspirin make people violent? Does cyanide make people violent?

Obviously, different drugs do different things. And different illicit drugs do very different things. It’s irresponsible to push this patently absurd and misleading claim as if it comes from your authority as a “medical professional”. If you are distorting the truth to promote your own political views, then you are no longer speaking as a medical professional, you are speaking as a demagogue.

 i agree with  will…..there’s no cause and effect…….some drunk people get violent some don’t…same with cocaine etc…

Will may I never said anything about or used the word “stoner” you fool. why do you insist on putting words in my mouth? I never mentioned the mind numbing drug marijuana. And you say I’m misleading? have you ever listened to yourself? 

Which is why alcohol should be banned before pot. Seeing as how that’s not the case, the laws aren’t based on logic and it’s hard to have sympathy for either side in this situation. If you’re a medical professional, shouldn’t you be amenable to treating drug use and addiction as a medical problem rather than a criminal one?

Yeah, unlike all the cops who use steroids.  When they use them, they become wonderful, upstanding individuals who love to help little old ladies cross the street, and never engage in a violent act, right?

It’s not flip-flopping. It a stand against violence. It appears to be flip-flopping when one chooses loyalty to one side, rather than a principled stand against violence.