Originally posted by lazs2
curval... I have seen it from both sides and at the source.. I am not sure that supporting the drug war or not supprting it are a simple thing.
I would be interested in how you would handle the problem since your brain is undamaged.
lazs
First let me preface any remarks by saying I am in this thread now to talk to lazs about the drug war. That's it.
Now, as to the above quote:
My brain is far from undamaged. I may not have been dealing crystal meth with bike gangs, but I can safley say I have seen quite a bit of the ugly underbelly of the drug trade.
I'm really quite surprised at your support of, or even indifference to, the whole drug war issue lazs. The bottom line is that drugs are illegal. Why? Don't answer that it is funneling money to drug lords or terrorists...they all came AFTER the drugs were made illegal. Why are they illegal from the outset?
If you boil it down there is only one reason. It is governments waggling their fingers at their respective people and saying "This stuff is BAD for you." It is one more attack on a human beings ability to be free to do what he/she wants to do with their bodies.
What you don't see are those same governments having people standing outside Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets and saying "Don't go in there...that stuff is bad for you."
Now...having made these drugs illegal the same govenments have made the entire business a most profitable venture.
The example of alcohol prohibition in the United States is one example of the failure of such a policy of making something illegal based upon moral and health concerns.
I face the ramifications of the War on Drugs every single day. The cost of doing business..legitimate business..has soared worldwide to prevent criminals from using their ill-got funds.
Our company alone is considering requesting a retainer, almost equal to the retainer required to incorporate a company, to simply open a bank account for our clients. KYC and Due Diligence has led to situations in which compliance departments are actually running the financial institutions.
My solution...Make the drugs legal, save the billions on enforcement of this drug war and instead put it towards education and rehabiliation. You will, at the same time, save additional billions within the financial services industry.
Unfortunaely though, this is but a pipe dream. Why? Because the drug lords, mafia, triads etc have a massive vested interest in seeing this useless war on drugs continue. They NEED to keep drugs illegal, otherwise they are out of business.