On June 18, 1971, following President Richard Nixon’s speech to Congress, the media in America declared the beginning of the “War on Drugs,” which has shaped crime policy for the last half century. The U.S. prison population went from almost 200,000 people in 1971 to 2.2 million today, and we now have the highest incarceration rate in the world.

Another winless war we lost. Unless you are an owner in the prison-industrial complex.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2022 08:38AM by Speedy.

I wonder what might have happened if in the 1970s we had asked why so many Amerocans wanted to get high and stoned all the time, and then done something about those conditions?

Instead we wrecked millions of lives with useless punishment, and the conditions got worse.

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RgrF
The U.S. prison population went from almost 200,000 people in 1971 to 2.2 million today, and we now have the highest incarceration rate in the world.

Another "unsolvable" problem that no other Western country has.

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Acer

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RgrF
The U.S. prison population went from almost 200,000 people in 1971 to 2.2 million today, and we now have the highest incarceration rate in the world.

Another "unsolvable" problem that no other Western country has.

If you're referring to drug addiction (and not incarceration), that's an overstatement.

"The United Kingdom has one of the highest rates of drug-induced deaths in Europe..."
[www.statista.com]

"Germany's Battle Against Drug Addiction"
[www.dw.com]

"France struggles with the addiction of its citizens. An estimated 230,000 are high-risk opioid users..."
[www.narcononeurope.dk]

I remember one day my boss handed me a 'just say NO!' button to put on and I had to explain to him why I refused. He was stunned. He thought that nothing could be more universally agreeable than 'just say no'.

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DeusxMac

Quote
Acer

Quote
RgrF
The U.S. prison population went from almost 200,000 people in 1971 to 2.2 million today, and we now have the highest incarceration rate in the world.

Another "unsolvable" problem that no other Western country has.

If you're referring to drug addiction (and not incarceration), that's an overstatement.

"The United Kingdom has one of the highest rates of drug-induced deaths in Europe..."
[www.statista.com]

"Germany's Battle Against Drug Addiction"
[www.dw.com]

"France struggles with the addiction of its citizens. An estimated 230,000 are high-risk opioid users..."

[www.narcononeurope.dk]

Turns out the US is the leader in drug induced death rates as well as rate of incarceration. U.S. drug deaths are over double that of the #2, Canada. 5x the rate in the UK, more than 10x France or Germany.

[www.worldlifeexpectancy.com]

To imply it's not a problem in those other countries would of course be an exaggeration on my part for snarky forum post effect. But, even though there are jails and drugs (and violence) in those other countries, the difference in magnitude is absurd. We are doing something very, very wrong, and no one in government will admit it.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2022 11:00PM by Acer.

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Lemon Drop
I wonder what might have happened if in the 1970 2000s we had asked why so many Amerocans wanted to get high and stoned all the time shoot each other, and then done something about those conditions?

fixed that for you.

yet, when I suggest maybe we should ask people why they are shooting each other, and work on those issues, the solution here is to get rid of the guns? Because as RgrF said "Actually trying to fix human behavior by identifying what you term "impetus" isn't logical, possible and probably more undo-able than rescinding 2A - a fools errand. " and again "Attempting to understand underlying factors that cause people to go off the rails is a good and noble concept, thinking you can then take that knowledge and somehow, in advance, fix people to never do that is a notion that goes back to the BF Skinner school of psychology. It found a welcome home with a number of early 20th Century autocrats. " [forums.macresource.com]

do you realize how hypocritical it is that your lamenting that illegal drug related behavior might be fixed in this manner, but the idea that illegal firearms related behavior almost certainly couldn't be?

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********************************************
“A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand.” Seneca the Younger

The police have no duty to respond. See Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 (2005) or Warren v. District of Columbia[1] (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981)

Judge Lee wrote that “we cannot jettison our constitutional rights, even if the goal behind a law is laudable." 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

[www.youtube.com]



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2022 12:55AM by Racer X.