Re: Why is marijuana still illegal?
i never got the "war on drugs will never be won, therefore legalise drugs" argument
war on murder hasnt been won either last time i checked
also nobody goes to fucking jail for taking drugs drug users who go to prison are almost always criminals with long criminal records regardless of their drug use
Comments such as "the war on drugs will never be won", only arise because of the comments of various officials in the UN and US who have repeatedly stated that the war on drugs can and will be won, which is surely the more deluded and unreasonable argument. In 2007 the Howard government famously published the study "the winnable war on drugs". I'm sure I recall in 2011 reading the UN drug tzar saying 'the war on drugs is winnable, it has an end', there are lots of heads still seriously stating that illicit drugs will be eliminated from any major social influence, if severe enough enforcement is enacted.
If the argument "the war on drugs will be won" is going to be made as an argument in favor of prohibition (which it is), then it is fair and necessary to include among other arguments against the 'war on drugs', a correction of any delusions that this policy has an end
I have heard no one sophisticated state "war on drugs will never be won, therefore legalise drugs", it's not a line that anyone who matters would spin, but rather that use has massively increased in the face of 40 years prohibition, more or less onerous punishment hasn't proved effective at decreasing use.
'war on drugs' is a bad metaphor anyway, it's a shame discussion is in those terms.
There is less murder than ever in our society, more crystal meth than ever, tbh you can reasonably argue the war on murder is being won, victory doesn't necessarily mean you eliminate all enemy combatants, whereas on drugs we appear to always go backwards, more liberal states possibly less so.
also nobody goes to fucking jail for taking drugs drug users who go to prison are almost always criminals with long criminal records regardless of their drug use
- Who said drug users do go to prison
- I'm pretty sure this isn't true internationally
- Are you implying it isn't a real war because users don't go to prison