en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/747550 Comments by drivel http://biggovernment.com/gjohnson/2012/01/16/its-time-to-end-the-war-on-drugs/#IDComment266179567 1. In the history of mankind, there has never, ever been a person who has died from marijuana. There are approximately 79,000 deaths attributable to excessive alcohol use each year in the United States. 2. There are more people who die from Prescription "Feel Good" drugs than all illegal drugs combined. 3. 50% of our prison population (the highest in the world per capita due to our drug policies) is made up of "non-violent" drug offenders who are thrown in with murderers, rapists and violent thugs. 90% of those are in for marijuana related crimes. Think about that when your kid gets caught with a baggy in his/her car, whether his/hers or not. 4. Nixon started up the "war on drugs" as a way to arrest hippies protesting the Vietnam war, not to save lives. Turns out the hippies were right. 5. The extreme amount of violence we see in the news isn't because of the drugs themselves, but due to the black market. If not, how many crimes do we see caused for Prescription Drugs which are just as effective in getting a person high? 6. Morphine, Codine, Oxycontin are all opiates just like Heroin. They are legal. Heroin itself is legal in countries like England, and used just like other prescription pain killers. 7. The largest financial contributors to the "war on drugs" are police and prison unions, alcohol companies, pharmaceutical companies, and (rumored) drug kingpins. 8. Police make big money off of drugs. Many entire police force budgets for all military gear, weapons, armor, vehicles, etc... are financed via the money and assets confiscated in the "war on drugs". They have a conflict of interest when arguing for their continuation. 9. Our current "Patriot Act" has enabled police to do no-knock and quick-knock raids. Recently our Supreme Court ruled they only have to "smell" pot in order to justify kicking down a door. There are many cases already of their getting the wrong address and killing innocent people and their pets in this travesty. As a result we are no longer able to defend ourselves in our own home when we risk confronting an armed police force... Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:32:48 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/gjohnson/2012/01/16/its-time-to-end-the-war-on-drugs/#IDComment266179567