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The War on Drugs only serves to give law enforcement unlimited extra constitutional powers. Even the bizarre murder of Central American fishermen is justified

The War on Drugs only serves to give law enforcement unlimited extra constitutional powers. Even the bizarre murder of Central American fishermen is justified by someone somewhere having a dime bag or something. Who needs trials , or evidence. Drugs are bad. Government good. Drugs bad.

daseiner1 5d ago
i don't dispute that the "War on Drugs" was (is?) pretty much just a glorified jobs program for law enforcement but nevertheless some drugs are very bad. ironically enough alcohol, despite being the most readily available drug after caffeine, is probably the worst drug of all in terms of societal destruction.
- klrefg 5d ago
  > is probably the worst drug of all in terms of societal destruction. We are yet to observe a society where the overwhelming majority of the population regularly uses fentanyl, crack cocaine or meth-amphetamine. I bet that if we try comparing apples to oranges alcohol would end up being relatively harmless.
  - mitxela 5d ago
    Not fentanyl, but it used to be normal to get methamphetamine as a cough treatment from any pharmacy, and it worked out okay.
    - kakacik 4d ago
      Heroine and cocaine too, coke was full of... coke at the beginning
  - 999900000999 5d ago
    If Crack was legal today would you light up a pipe ? Maybe right after filing your taxes ? The most dangerous part of any illegal substance is the illegal economy existing to support it. Drug dealers generally can’t sue each other so they resolve disputes via other means. Law Enforcement has the right to suspend all your so called rights because someone you may or may not know might have an unauthorized substance. Set the legal drug age to whatever the enlistment age is. I’d argue 21 for both.
    - wellthisisgreat 4d ago
      > If Crack was legal today would you light up a pipe ? I wouldn’t but I don’t drink either, while many ppl drink themselves to incapacitation. The difference between crack and a bottle o’ Jack though is that consequence of a crack-filled weekend isn’t just a hangover. Maybe a society with all drugs legal would eventually figure out tolerable dosages for heavy recreational crack use (I really did write this ha), but do you want to live through the couple of decades of that discovery phase?
      - AngryData 4d ago
        Crack is less harmful than alcohol by pretty mucch every measure so if anything we should be swapping the place of alcohol and crack.
      - 999900000999 4d ago
        You mean a society that doesn’t give millions of people criminal records for what’s ultimately a health issue ? Probation still doesn’t work. You don’t have a whole lot of bootleggers now do you ? Regulate, tax, educate.
  - CPLX 5d ago
    Pretty sure we have a a couple examples of what happens when a huge swath of the people in charge are using prescription amphetamines. Berlin in 1939 and Silicon Valley jn 2026 come to mind.
    - AngryData 4d ago
      And every year inbetween. Cocaine never stopped being popular.

daseiner1 5d ago

i don't dispute that the "War on Drugs" was (is?) pretty much just a glorified jobs program for law enforcement but nevertheless some drugs are very bad. ironically enough alcohol, despite being the most readily available drug after caffeine, is probably the worst drug of all in terms of societal destruction.

klrefg 5d ago
> is probably the worst drug of all in terms of societal destruction. We are yet to observe a society where the overwhelming majority of the population regularly uses fentanyl, crack cocaine or meth-amphetamine. I bet that if we try comparing apples to oranges alcohol would end up being relatively harmless.
- mitxela 5d ago
  Not fentanyl, but it used to be normal to get methamphetamine as a cough treatment from any pharmacy, and it worked out okay.
  - kakacik 4d ago
    Heroine and cocaine too, coke was full of... coke at the beginning
- 999900000999 5d ago
  If Crack was legal today would you light up a pipe ? Maybe right after filing your taxes ? The most dangerous part of any illegal substance is the illegal economy existing to support it. Drug dealers generally can’t sue each other so they resolve disputes via other means. Law Enforcement has the right to suspend all your so called rights because someone you may or may not know might have an unauthorized substance. Set the legal drug age to whatever the enlistment age is. I’d argue 21 for both.
  - wellthisisgreat 4d ago
    > If Crack was legal today would you light up a pipe ? I wouldn’t but I don’t drink either, while many ppl drink themselves to incapacitation. The difference between crack and a bottle o’ Jack though is that consequence of a crack-filled weekend isn’t just a hangover. Maybe a society with all drugs legal would eventually figure out tolerable dosages for heavy recreational crack use (I really did write this ha), but do you want to live through the couple of decades of that discovery phase?
    - AngryData 4d ago
      Crack is less harmful than alcohol by pretty mucch every measure so if anything we should be swapping the place of alcohol and crack.
    - 999900000999 4d ago
      You mean a society that doesn’t give millions of people criminal records for what’s ultimately a health issue ? Probation still doesn’t work. You don’t have a whole lot of bootleggers now do you ? Regulate, tax, educate.
- CPLX 5d ago
  Pretty sure we have a a couple examples of what happens when a huge swath of the people in charge are using prescription amphetamines. Berlin in 1939 and Silicon Valley jn 2026 come to mind.
  - AngryData 4d ago
    And every year inbetween. Cocaine never stopped being popular.