the war on drugs - is there just too much money in it?
Pepe Silvia
Posts: 3,758
i just watched american war on drugs by kevin booth, which was a pretty good doc.
i remember reading years ago the true cost of the war on drugs is hard to calculate because you have to factor in court costs, costs to keep someone in jail plus a lot of agencies like the cia are involved and get some of the money which is classified but in 2003 the office of national drug control policy said it was $19 billion and harvard and columbia have said state and local governments spent another $30 billion.
links to those are here
http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm
it also says so far this year federal and local government has spent $8.8 billion.
anyway, the documentary covers a lot and is very informative without coming off like a pro pot infomercial. it made a good point that in a country like holland and dispensaries with medicinal marijuana here those establishments are accountable for who they sell to and obviously those places won't risk their business by selling to minors and who they shouldn't or selling meth or crack to anyone. but by keeping it illegal you create this vacuum filled with many people that don't care how old the person is, what the impact of it is...
near the end they go to amsterdam and have a side by side of amsterdam streets and los angeles streets. also, not only in holland is the hard drug usage not as high as the us but the amount of people that smoke pot is lower. i forgot the age ranges but it was for teenagers and young adults.
also, which i always thought, by saying marijuana is just as bad as crystal meth or crack when a kid tries pot and thinks this is nothing like everyone said and maybe they lied about other drugs is dangerous.
a judge in california said if the war on drugs ended it would save the state over $1 billion in court costs, the operations, incarcerating the people, man hours...imagine how much they could make if it was regulated? the judge said it's the #1 cash crop in the state, #2 is grapes.
it had good information on the Iran/Contra affair and how it was proven the CIA helped transport cocaine back to the US. and how many of these criminals not only never went to jail but are still in power or have tv shows like ollie north. people who lied to congress, falsified and destroyed evidence, supported a group congress declared to be terrorists and any support was illegal....yet this guy freeway ricky ross who moved millions in crack went to jail for decades and i think still may be in jail. now, i'm not defending crack, just pointing out the guy he was getting the coke from worked for the cia and was helping bring it back. why should 1 be held accountable and not the main culprits?
at the end it said blackwater was 1 of the companies that got contracts to help in the war on drugs worth over $15 billion.
is there just too much money in this whole thing to turn back? at the beginning of it the enforcement arm gets a lot of money, so naturally they would hate to see that go. the court system and local government gets to keep a % of anything seized on top of the fines and billing them for court costs then you have the prison system who gets between $30,000-$60,000 per person. the documentary brought up the corporate prison systems and how much they are profiting from keeping people in jail....so you have all these people, agencies, governments....being blinded by the immediate money but in the end when we add everything up as a whole it just doesn't seem worth it.
plus you know the hysterical attacks that would come to anyone hat suggested such things, look at what happened to jocelyn elders or the former governor of new mexico.
i remember reading years ago the true cost of the war on drugs is hard to calculate because you have to factor in court costs, costs to keep someone in jail plus a lot of agencies like the cia are involved and get some of the money which is classified but in 2003 the office of national drug control policy said it was $19 billion and harvard and columbia have said state and local governments spent another $30 billion.
links to those are here
http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm
it also says so far this year federal and local government has spent $8.8 billion.
anyway, the documentary covers a lot and is very informative without coming off like a pro pot infomercial. it made a good point that in a country like holland and dispensaries with medicinal marijuana here those establishments are accountable for who they sell to and obviously those places won't risk their business by selling to minors and who they shouldn't or selling meth or crack to anyone. but by keeping it illegal you create this vacuum filled with many people that don't care how old the person is, what the impact of it is...
near the end they go to amsterdam and have a side by side of amsterdam streets and los angeles streets. also, not only in holland is the hard drug usage not as high as the us but the amount of people that smoke pot is lower. i forgot the age ranges but it was for teenagers and young adults.
also, which i always thought, by saying marijuana is just as bad as crystal meth or crack when a kid tries pot and thinks this is nothing like everyone said and maybe they lied about other drugs is dangerous.
a judge in california said if the war on drugs ended it would save the state over $1 billion in court costs, the operations, incarcerating the people, man hours...imagine how much they could make if it was regulated? the judge said it's the #1 cash crop in the state, #2 is grapes.
it had good information on the Iran/Contra affair and how it was proven the CIA helped transport cocaine back to the US. and how many of these criminals not only never went to jail but are still in power or have tv shows like ollie north. people who lied to congress, falsified and destroyed evidence, supported a group congress declared to be terrorists and any support was illegal....yet this guy freeway ricky ross who moved millions in crack went to jail for decades and i think still may be in jail. now, i'm not defending crack, just pointing out the guy he was getting the coke from worked for the cia and was helping bring it back. why should 1 be held accountable and not the main culprits?
at the end it said blackwater was 1 of the companies that got contracts to help in the war on drugs worth over $15 billion.
is there just too much money in this whole thing to turn back? at the beginning of it the enforcement arm gets a lot of money, so naturally they would hate to see that go. the court system and local government gets to keep a % of anything seized on top of the fines and billing them for court costs then you have the prison system who gets between $30,000-$60,000 per person. the documentary brought up the corporate prison systems and how much they are profiting from keeping people in jail....so you have all these people, agencies, governments....being blinded by the immediate money but in the end when we add everything up as a whole it just doesn't seem worth it.
plus you know the hysterical attacks that would come to anyone hat suggested such things, look at what happened to jocelyn elders or the former governor of new mexico.
don't compete; coexist
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
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