Recreational Drug Use Legalization

[glatt]

In Baltimore, where we set The Wire, drug arrests have skyrocketed over the past three decades, yet in that same span, arrest rates for murder have gone from 80% and 90% to half that. Lost in an unwinnable drug war, a new generation of law officers is no longer capable of investigating crime properly, having learned only to make court pay by grabbing cheap, meaningless drug arrests off the nearest corner.

I've been watching The Wire lately on DVD and they really keep pounding this point home. I think it's a valid one.

It used to be that cops would walk a beat and get to know the people of a neighborhood. They would know every kid by name and stop to talk to the citizens as they went around. If anything ever happened, the cop would hear about it from the law abiding citizens. They were approachable.

Now, with the war on drugs, virtually everyone in places like West Baltimore knows someone who has been locked up in the war on drugs. Maybe they have been locked up. Maybe it's their father or brother. Maybe a friend. The cops took that freedom away, and they are the enemy. Nothing good comes from talking to a cop. So the cops don't get any breaks. Homicide witnesses won't come forward. The cops are the enemy.

Get rid of the war on drugs, and the cops can go back to protecting a neighborhood from real crime with the help of the citizens.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Such as....

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by glatt

I've been watching The Wire lately on DVD and they really keep pounding this point home. I think it's a valid one.

It used to be that cops would walk a beat and get to know the people of a neighborhood. They would know every kid by name and stop to talk to the citizens as they went around. If anything ever happened, the cop would hear about it from the law abiding citizens. They were approachable.

Now, with the war on drugs, virtually everyone in places like West Baltimore knows someone who has been locked up in the war on drugs. Maybe they have been locked up. Maybe it's their father or brother. Maybe a friend. The cops took that freedom away, and they are the enemy. Nothing good comes from talking to a cop. So the cops don't get any breaks. Homicide witnesses won't come forward. The cops are the enemy.

Get rid of the war on drugs, and the cops can go back to protecting a neighborhood from real crime with the help of the citizens.

You really don't think it is that simplistic do you. BTW I love The Wire.

I do think that cops walking a beat is a good thing, we just restarted that in a major city near us. But the practicality of it no longer fits todays demographic, not to mention the fact that you can't hire a person for $17,000 a year and expect him to love life walking in a neighborhood war zone the size of many small US towns. To much area, to many ingrained thoughts and ideas, to many generations removed from any fantasy that all cops are good guys, cause they are not. They are not paid to be either. Crime in general is to much and there are not enough good people available to do the job effectively, and one reason is there are to many people to police.

Cops are not the enemy because of the War on Drugs, that is but one small element. Much of the violent crime is related to the struggle between factions that want to control drugs. Legalization will not change that. People will just look to circumvent the system, legal or not, to keep their income and piece of the power pie.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Cops are not the enemy because of the War on Drugs, that is but one small element. Much of the violent crime is related to the struggle between factions that want to control drugs. Legalization will not change that. People will just look to circumvent the system, legal or not, to keep their income and piece of the power pie.

Legalization will absolutely change that.

Who is going to buy drugs of unknown quality from a shifty character on a street corner when you can get a known, quality controlled product made by Pfizer or Merck from the corner drugstore for half the price? The criminal dealers will be left out in the cold. Nobody will buy from them. The violence associated with the supply side will disappear overnight.

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by glatt

Legalization will absolutely change that.

Who is going to buy drugs of unknown quality from a shifty character on a street corner when you can get a known, quality controlled product made by Pfizer or Merck from the corner drugstore for half the price? The criminal dealers will be left out in the cold. Nobody will buy from them. The violence associated with the supply side will disappear overnight.

Like alcohol. MOST people go to the nearest grocery, bar, or liquor store. They don't meet up with Guido on the street corner to get their Absolut cheaper.

[lookout123]

You all think weed is harmless?

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by glatt

Legalization will absolutely change that.

Who is going to buy drugs of unknown quality from a shifty character on a street corner when you can get a known, quality controlled product made by Pfizer or Merck from the corner drugstore for half the price? The criminal dealers will be left out in the cold. Nobody will buy from them. The violence associated with the supply side will disappear overnight.

I don't buy it. The same thugs who can't afford anything other than their FUBU hoodie and $120 nikes will still be ripping off the guy who has the cash to buy the drugs legally. This continues to be an issue that is not simplified by discussing legalization. Even when opium dens were legal and readily available the drug use ruined many lives.

[glatt]

I was talking about the violence associated with the supply side. Now you're bringing up the violence associated with the demand side. I agree that demand side crime and violence isn't going to change very much if drugs are legalized. Addicts will still commit crimes to feed their habit.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by glatt

I was talking about the violence associated with the supply side. Now you're bringing up the violence associated with the demand side. I agree that demand side crime and violence isn't going to change very much if drugs are legalized. Addicts will still commit crimes to feed their habit.

That is why I said it is not simplistic. I am and was bringing up the violence and health effects of the whole deal. Legalization only deals with a small part of the problem.