We need an exit strategy

~~jeffdrummer~~ · 12-16-2006, 12:14 PM

To the war on drugs, and the war on poverty. We have been fighting these wars that the Johnson administration thrust upon us. We have little to no success in either of them, and the war is still being fought, we need an exit strategy for these wars that have been going on for 40 years, costing tax payers billions, and yielding no fruit. I call for a phased withdrawl of these ineffective wars starting now. If anything wasting tax payers money takes away from money that could be used for the poor. That is, the war on poverty is creating more poor. And drug use has increased dramatically since 1965 (dipping slighly during Reagan, and the first Bush administrations), so the war is a failure. We will never win the war on drugs or poverty, so why don't we just cut our losses and surrender?

If you make an effort to be smart in school, you can be successful, if you don't you will get stuck being a DEA officer.

**Chode** · 12-16-2006, 02:09 PM

Good to see you thinking clearly and making sense jeff! The War on Drugs is clearly a failure just like Prohibition and just as clearly, for exactly the same reasons. Prohibition didn't work because many people wanted the product, and were willing to pay lots of money for it, which in turn generated a new class of criminal who was ready, willing and able to supply liquor because they could get enormously wealthy.

"Drugs" aren't really different from alcohol and tobacco, except in terms of our cultural perspective. Abuse of tobacco and alcohol is every bit as destructive as any drug you care to name. The Brits tried our approach to dealing with drugs and found that crime went through the roof. When they returned to treating drug abuse as a medical issue, crime decreased and addiction became an issue that doctors could manage more effectively. Sorry, Bubba, you can't change human nature.

OK, on to poverty! We have already surrendered in this war. The Bush administration has cut funding for social services more than any administration since Johnson started "The War on Poverty". Because of funding cuts to health services such as Planned Parenthood and Medicaid, Bush may honestly be said to have killed more Americans than the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.

Myth-UK · 12-20-2006, 05:43 AM

The drugs issue is something that wont be "won", like Chode says, too many people want to take them, too many people are already addicted.

If goverments were able to tax drugs (Not the really nasty ones such as Meth, Heroin and cocaine) i believe they would.

Cigarettes and Alcohol kill more people in Britian than drugs ever do. I'm not saying that its right to do this, its just a fact.

As for poverty, instead of giving up on that, why not spend more on it? Instead we spend and wastre great vasts of money on Defense. We may live in a dangerous world but generally speaking its because we (Britian and the US) made it that way. We are able to justify spending billions on a new weapon that kills 100, 000 people when we cant afford to spend the same amount on giving every single person an education, help, medical care and a standard of living above the poverty line.

Dry Crick · 12-20-2006, 06:06 AM

What we need is drugs for Mexico and other Latin American countries, where just $2.00 in prenatal vitamins would prevent 100,000 handicapped children per year.

Myth-UK · 12-20-2006, 07:06 AM

sure about those figures? Don't you mean $2 per child?

Anyway, i am a great believer in lets get ourselves sorted out first then worry about the rest of the world.
At the moment we are too worried about other countries to see whats happening in our own.

yustr · 12-20-2006, 10:29 AM

Myth-UK,

Do you have something like THIS SITE in the UK? Eye opening...

Myth-UK · 12-20-2006, 03:58 PM

Nah, but i have seen it before... Its pretty bloody fightning to be honest.

12-16-2006, 12:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
~~jeffdrummer~~ Register user Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts: 870 OS: MAC OS X 10.4.8, and 10.5!! WinXP SP2	We need an exit strategy To the war on drugs, and the war on poverty. We have been fighting these wars that the Johnson administration thrust upon us. We have little to no success in either of them, and the war is still being fought, we need an exit strategy for these wars that have been going on for 40 years, costing tax payers billions, and yielding no fruit. I call for a phased withdrawl of these ineffective wars starting now. If anything wasting tax payers money takes away from money that could be used for the poor. That is, the war on poverty is creating more poor. And drug use has increased dramatically since 1965 (dipping slighly during Reagan, and the first Bush administrations), so the war is a failure. We will never win the war on drugs or poverty, so why don't we just cut our losses and surrender? If you make an effort to be smart in school, you can be successful, if you don't you will get stuck being a DEA officer. Last edited by jeffdrummer; 12-16-2006 at 12:17 PM.

12-16-2006, 02:09 PM	#2 (permalink)
Chode TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,280 OS: Windows XP Pro	Good to see you thinking clearly and making sense jeff! The War on Drugs is clearly a failure just like Prohibition and just as clearly, for exactly the same reasons. Prohibition didn't work because many people wanted the product, and were willing to pay lots of money for it, which in turn generated a new class of criminal who was ready, willing and able to supply liquor because they could get enormously wealthy. "Drugs" aren't really different from alcohol and tobacco, except in terms of our cultural perspective. Abuse of tobacco and alcohol is every bit as destructive as any drug you care to name. The Brits tried our approach to dealing with drugs and found that crime went through the roof. When they returned to treating drug abuse as a medical issue, crime decreased and addiction became an issue that doctors could manage more effectively. Sorry, Bubba, you can't change human nature. OK, on to poverty! We have already surrendered in this war. The Bush administration has cut funding for social services more than any administration since Johnson started "The War on Poverty". Because of funding cuts to health services such as Planned Parenthood and Medicaid, Bush may honestly be said to have killed more Americans than the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. __________________ Sweet!

12-20-2006, 10:29 AM	#6 (permalink)
yustr Asst. Manager, The Conversation Pit Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Connecticut shore Posts: 6,038 OS: XP Pro My System	Myth-UK, Do you have something like THIS SITE in the UK? Eye opening... __________________ If there are lawyers or politicians involved, logic may be a very poor tool for reaching a conclusion. Last edited by yustr; 12-20-2006 at 10:30 AM.

12-20-2006, 05:43 AM	#3 (permalink)
Myth-UK Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 107 OS: XP My System	The drugs issue is something that wont be "won", like Chode says, too many people want to take them, too many people are already addicted. If goverments were able to tax drugs (Not the really nasty ones such as Meth, Heroin and cocaine) i believe they would. Cigarettes and Alcohol kill more people in Britian than drugs ever do. I'm not saying that its right to do this, its just a fact. As for poverty, instead of giving up on that, why not spend more on it? Instead we spend and wastre great vasts of money on Defense. We may live in a dangerous world but generally speaking its because we (Britian and the US) made it that way. We are able to justify spending billions on a new weapon that kills 100, 000 people when we cant afford to spend the same amount on giving every single person an education, help, medical care and a standard of living above the poverty line.

12-20-2006, 06:06 AM	#4 (permalink)
Dry Crick Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Four Corners Posts: 43 OS: WXPP & Linux	What we need is drugs for Mexico and other Latin American countries, where just $2.00 in prenatal vitamins would prevent 100,000 handicapped children per year.

12-20-2006, 07:06 AM	#5 (permalink)
Myth-UK Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 107 OS: XP My System	sure about those figures? Don't you mean $2 per child? Anyway, i am a great believer in lets get ourselves sorted out first then worry about the rest of the world. At the moment we are too worried about other countries to see whats happening in our own.

12-20-2006, 03:58 PM	#7 (permalink)
Myth-UK Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 107 OS: XP My System	Nah, but i have seen it before... Its pretty bloody fightning to be honest.