4 ms·

They’ve been fighting the suppliers. It’s time to go after the demand side, too. Every user bought their drugs from a dealer. Throw them in jail with the dealer

They’ve been fighting the suppliers. It’s time to go after the demand side, too. Every user bought their drugs from a dealer. Throw them in jail with the dealer. It seems like every solution in this thread is something other than “punish people who buy or sell drugs.” Can we at least try ruthless enforcement before we try free drugs for addicts paid for by taxpayers?

standardUser 5y ago
It's almost like you are bragging about your ignorance of the drug war. Ruthless enforcement was the norm for two generations and ruined countless lives. How much more ruthless would you have us be? Asset forfeiture, mandatory minimum sentences and massive violations of privacy rights weren't enough for you?
bongoman37 5y ago
Given that law enforcement is quite willing to plant evidence on innocent people, this would just be a terrible idea. I had a cop friend who shared a bit of weed saying 'Can't take it all, its evidence for a case next week'. Free drugs for addicts is often a lot more cost effective. Also, not every drug user is a major addict. Almost everyone I knew (I move in academic circles), has some experimentation with drugs and a fair number will smoke weed every so often and try something like mushrooms a couple of times a year.
woah 5y ago
What’s more expensive, a few grams of an easy to synthesize pharmaceutical or keeping someone in prison? It sounds like your idea would be a massive waste of taxpayer money serving only to gratify a perverse fantasy of sadism and domination.
- MisterMower 5y ago
  Take Jack's story and multiply it by at least a million. That's the cost we're currently paying for it. Throwing a small fraction of those people in jail in order to prevent this epidemic is the humane thing to do. That you'd rather call a real solution to this issue "perverse" and "sadistic" betrays your own cynical view: you really don't care that much about people like Jack. You'd rather grandstand with your smug, politically correct view than actually help people like him. Why was it so easy for Jack, a high school kid in a small town in the Northeast, to get his hand on hard drugs like this? The answer: we stopped having the stomach for being tough on anyone connected with drugs, by throwing them in prison, and creating incentives to strongly discourage its use. We don't hesitate to jail people for decades when we find them with illegal explosives or plans to commit acts of terrorism. If those people are successful, at most they kill hundreds of people. The use and distribution of drugs does much more damage and impacts millions in a massively negative way.

standardUser 5y ago

It's almost like you are bragging about your ignorance of the drug war. Ruthless enforcement was the norm for two generations and ruined countless lives. How much more ruthless would you have us be? Asset forfeiture, mandatory minimum sentences and massive violations of privacy rights weren't enough for you?

bongoman37 5y ago

Given that law enforcement is quite willing to plant evidence on innocent people, this would just be a terrible idea. I had a cop friend who shared a bit of weed saying 'Can't take it all, its evidence for a case next week'. Free drugs for addicts is often a lot more cost effective. Also, not every drug user is a major addict. Almost everyone I knew (I move in academic circles), has some experimentation with drugs and a fair number will smoke weed every so often and try something like mushrooms a couple of times a year.

woah 5y ago

What’s more expensive, a few grams of an easy to synthesize pharmaceutical or keeping someone in prison? It sounds like your idea would be a massive waste of taxpayer money serving only to gratify a perverse fantasy of sadism and domination.

MisterMower 5y ago
Take Jack's story and multiply it by at least a million. That's the cost we're currently paying for it. Throwing a small fraction of those people in jail in order to prevent this epidemic is the humane thing to do. That you'd rather call a real solution to this issue "perverse" and "sadistic" betrays your own cynical view: you really don't care that much about people like Jack. You'd rather grandstand with your smug, politically correct view than actually help people like him. Why was it so easy for Jack, a high school kid in a small town in the Northeast, to get his hand on hard drugs like this? The answer: we stopped having the stomach for being tough on anyone connected with drugs, by throwing them in prison, and creating incentives to strongly discourage its use. We don't hesitate to jail people for decades when we find them with illegal explosives or plans to commit acts of terrorism. If those people are successful, at most they kill hundreds of people. The use and distribution of drugs does much more damage and impacts millions in a massively negative way.