common ground on the left and right- drug war

[paulsby]

if there is one issue that the left and right can hopefully find common ground on, it is ending the ridiculous "war on drugs". here's an article from national review (long a proponent of decrim/legalization). it is sad that out of all the democratic candidates, not one of the "real" candidates (iow, those with a chance of winning) would even consider legalizing mj. obama dismissed the very idea as if it was a joke. the same was true on the right, with ron paul and a few other fringe candidates coming out against the drug war, and all the "real" candidates solidly behind it.

the "system" should be used to keep violent assholes in jail, and people who victimize others. not people who only victimize themself, and in many cases, aren't even victimizing themselves, being responsible users of illicit substances.

article follows...
http://corner.nationalreview.com/
The vicious killing of the police officers in Tacoma, Wash., may well have political repercussions for Mike Huckabee, as others have noted here. The primary suspect is Maurice Clemmons, who in 1989 received a 95-year prison sentence that was later commuted, in 2000, by then–Governor Huckabee. Whenever Clemmons has been free, he seems to have perpetrated still more violent crimes, according to the news stories.

I would, however, caution against a blanket condemnation of pardons, as well as any hasty move to simply abolish parole. The American criminal-justice system is thoroughly swamped. Right now there are more than 7 million people under criminal-justice “supervision.” About 2.5 million are behind bars, and about 4.5 million are on probation or parole. This system is greatly overburdened by non-violent drug offenders. Conditions vary by jurisdiction, but in general there is no prison space left. So it is unrealistic for us to say, “If a prisoner violates parole, send him back to jail immediately!”

Of course, there are sensible ways in which to “triage” our overburdened system. The priority ought to be keeping violent thugs like Clemmons behind bars, not sending drug offenders back to prison for failing urine tests. Arkansas and Washington officials who failed to comprehend this basic point should be condemned and held to account.

But that is not enough. Given the overall state of our system, I would stress these facts: (1) prison space is limited; (2) tens of thousands of prisoners are released from prison every year; and (3) even the best wardens and parole officers can’t stop recidivists who are bent on a life of crime.

Bottom line: Take government officials to task for dumb calls. More important, let’s get our dysfunctional system on a better track. That means giving up the futile drug war so that our limited resources (police time, court time, prison space, parole system) can focus on the violent offenders.

[optimator]

1. the only flaw

is that both parties ignore the will of the people.

[ConsAreLiars]

2. Glad to be able to agree with you 100%. --> LEAP

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php

Former Seattle Top Cop Norm Stamper is a major advocate.

[Fumesucker]

3. Actually I can't think of anything more "bipartisan" than the drug war..

The body of your post disagrees wildly with the title, as you point out Obama made a joke out of legalizing pot.

There are just too many people making too much money and garnering too much power from the drug war on both sides of the law for it to ever end.

For one thing the government would have to admit that seventy plus years of propaganda was a cruel lie, I expect that to happen shortly after Rush Limbaugh sprouts butterfly wings and migrates to the southern hemisphere.

Then of course you have the private, for profit prison industry and the prison guards unions who will fight legalization tooth and nail.

Edited to add: And let's not forget that our Vice President, Joe Biden, is one of the most enthusiastic drug warriors that has ever been in Congress and that he was the instigator of the idea of a "Drug Czar". I knew when Obama picked Biden as his VP that ending the drug war was the furthest thing from his mind.

[Echo In Light]

5. American Drug War: The Last White Hope

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CyuBuT_7I4

Bill Hicks - Mandatory Marijuana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZqYV9KKOZQ

[paulsby]

6. you are talking about politicians

i am talking about people.

iow, the democratic and republican MACHINE is solidly pro war on drugs.

many people from both parties are not.

that's where the bipartisanship will come from at first, imnsho

[Fumesucker]

7. And who makes the rules, eh?

You and I both know politicians make the rules for the rest of us to live by.

The drug war confers vast powers on the politicians, they won't give up those powers without a huge fight.

Even here on DU, have people vote on a list of the most important political priorities to them and the drug war is way down the list, to the point it really doesn't show up.

There's a great deal of power in language, most of us think in language and by controlling the language our thoughts can be controlled, hence Orwell's "double plus good" or "double plus ungood". I'm sensitized to certain language and I cringe a little every time I hear the phrase "alcohol and drugs" because it is an Orwellian phrase that basically hides the fact from people that alcohol is really just another drug.

*Everybody* uses that phrase, even people that should know better, like my physician brother in law who really drinks too damn much for his own good and yet is very negative about cannabis. A far more accurate phrase would be "alcohol and other drugs" but I can count the number of times I've heard it put that way without taking my shoes off.

[paulsby]

8. in many states, the people CAN and DO make the rules

states such as my state, via citizen initiative. we have passed a # of these. nevada put it up for popular vote a ways back and it lost, but it is entirely within the "power of the people' in many states, to strike a blow against the war on drugs, by passing a law to legalize/decrim, etc.

[Fumesucker]

9. Let me know when cannabis is taken off Schedule 1

I won't be holding my breath.

The Feds will punish any state that passes actual legalization and decrim will more than likely make things worse in terms of the violence associated with illicit drug distribution networks.

Lose your highway funding, lose your education funding.

[paulsby]

10. i'm not so sure

obama has already pledged to stop raiding medical mj clinics, even though medical MJ is inconsistent with federal scheduling. maybe i'm unrealistically optimistic, but i know several jurisdictions have already DECRIM'd mj, and since the feds almost never (almost) go after individual users, it IS effectively decrim'd in those jurisdictions.

[Fumesucker]

11. I was hopeful during Jimmy Carter's term..

Then we got Ronaldus Magnus for eight years.

Drug arrests and imprisonments soared during Clinton's terms.

I'm not getting fooled again.

The powers that be either don't care about the drug war or they are vehemently for it, there is no political power base that is really strongly against the drug war.

Keep in mind that Joe Biden is one of the strongest drug warriors to come out of Congress, actually came up with the idea of a "drug czar".

[paulsby]

12. i am well aware of this

but like i said, i think the impetus will come from the states, and from initiatives in those states.

the feds will be playing catch-up. biden is a non-stop statist. he and mccain are actually very similar in that regards.

california, for instance, is doing fine with decrim'd mj. where i work, it's EFFECTIVELY decrim'd. a first offense for possession might get you a fine for a couple hundred dollars, if that. and a lot of cops don't even bother if they find a few buds on somebody. seattle city council also voted to make mj a "low priority" and that's meant they essentially devote little to no resources to it

[Flaneur]

13. California will most likely have a legalization initiative next year.

If not two or three. There's also a legalization bill before the legislature there; the threat of an impending popular vote may goose the legislature to act, though I wouldn't count on it.

Also, Colorado looks likely for a 2012 legalization initiative. They got 44% in 2005.

And the Marijuana Policy Project is looking at Nevada again.

The lowest priority initiatives have spread to at least six California cities, Denver (which also voted to legalize it, but prosecutors ignore that and use state law), Eureka Springs, Arkansas(!), and a few other towns.

But that's all pot. We probably need to start ending the broader drug war by decriminalizing drug possession.

[cowcommander]

4. The war on drugs is like the Prohibition era in slow motion

Except stretched out in several decades of a slow, painful process of growing crime rates and even more dead bodies and gangs. Sadly this won't change until society does.