Comments on: Anyone Who Believes America is Winning the Drug War Must Be High

By: cheapest cialis

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By: Stephen Littau

Stephen Littau — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 23:54:47 +0000

Okay Allan, here is the source I used:

McNamara, J. D. (1995, April 9). Cops view of the â€˜drug warâ€™. San Francisco Examiner,. Retrieved April 7, 2004, from

http://www.leap.cc/publications/copsview.htm

I might not have cited it correctly (I used APA notation) but this is the source I used. In the fourth paragraph of the article you will find the following:

“He [Joseph McNamara]found that 95 percent of the police officers believed the United States was losing the war on drugs, and 98 percent thought drug abuse was not primarily a police problem. Just over 90 percent of the cops said increased prevention and treatment could control drugs more effectively. More than 30 percent of the cops said that legalization or decriminalization would cause a decrease in drug use or else not affect it.”

I haven’t gone as far as to find the primary source (the survey) that McNamara used in this article. I might have to do some digging to see what I can find.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention Allan.

By: Stephen Littau

Stephen Littau — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 19:43:13 +0000

I’ll see if I can track it down for you allan so be sure to check back.

By: allan

allan — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 18:17:33 +0000

What is the source of this:

- “Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), conducted a national survey among police officers. The survey found that 95% believe America is losing the drug war. Over 90% believe that treatment and prevention is more effective than incarceration. ”
-

I understand the stat following it, by Joe McNamara, is cited but the one above has no source. I believe it no such survey exists… but want to be sure before I put my foot in my mouth.

Thanks,

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By: Jim Stephens

Jim Stephens — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 00:06:20 +0000

Excellent piece. Slowly but surely, on a variety of fronts, the attitude is changing. Science is moving forward on the idea of addiction as a brain disease or maladaptation. Many states in the U.S. and provinces here in Canada are thumbing their nose at their Federal governments by enacting more sensible legislation and approaches to the problem of addiction.

And while it moves at a glacial pace, public opinion is changing, and well-researched articles like this are why. Slowly, John Q. Public is beginnning to see the “war on drugs” for what it really is. It’s a war on the poor, the under-served and under-insured. And it always has been.

By: Stephen Littau

Stephen Littau — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 19:11:28 +0000

Thanks MiddleX/Greg! That’s a great point you made about “war on stupidity”. That’s all the war on drugs really is. Doing drugs is stupid, so why fight this stupidity with even more stupidity (i.e. putting someone away for 5 years for having a gram of coke is very stupid). It appears that both the druggies and drug warriors are stuck on stupid.

By: gregdn

gregdn — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:01:20 +0000

Great article. There are too many in this country who have a vested interest in keeping drugs illegal. Law enforcement agencies for example would see their budgets cut drastically, and prison guards would be let go if we were to legalize drugs.

By: middleXeast

middleXeast — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 15:04:38 +0000

Very impressive and informative article. I love the title, and fully agree with it.

Engaging a war on drugs is as stupid as declaring war on stupidity, as if they are vanquishable objects.

Cheers,
middleXeast