Houston Police Chief "Drug War 'Miserable' Failure

Houston Police Chief Calls Drug War A 'Miserable' Failure, Says Feds Need To Lead Reform - HuffPo who is fricking quoting him verbatim.

This is the police chief of America's fourth largest city.

Short excerpt:


Huston....

Texas....

wow....

/blink

So even the police are finally admitting to something that's been obvious for 20 years.

Oh, wait, that's the same organization that decides to arbitrarily kill black folks, right? I guess we can forgive them being ridiculously slow on the uptake.

apparently it takes racial whining to get reform on an issue that is across-the-board useless

doesn't matter if you're black or white, minor drug 'offenses' should be met with rehabilitation not penalization

An entire industry depends on the drug war. There's a lot of money in locking up personal use possessors. I highly doubt there will be much change in national drug policy as long and private prisons and lobbying exist.

There's more industries than just private prisons involved, but you're right, Jassik. I might not be as bothered except the *** making money hand-over-fist from this stupid venture are the same ones who condemn every minor criminal as irredeemable scum unworthy of even basic human rights.

Not sure what to think about this, truth be told. It also doesn't help I live in Houston.

I can't help but feel they are gonna just characterize this as a "racial minority" issue. I think this affects a vast majority of people regardless of race.

Well, considering that whites and blacks use recreational drugs at nearly the same rate, yet blacks are almost 5 times more likely to be arrested and convicted of a drug crime than whites and, on average, receive 10-15% longer sentences... It kinda is a "racial minority" issue. Blacks make up less than 40% of the population, yet make up almost 70% of the non-violent prison population. I don't know why exactly that is the result, but blacks and hispanics are clearly being disproportionately caught up in the war on drugs.

He speaks truth this is another reason about criminalizing american citizens as well with petty crimes it destroys job chances, up to taking there voting privileges away which further prohibits against the founding of our national direction in improving our country in some way or form.

Yes drugs are a problem to any society but there are also a lot more problems like capital corporate greed and malevolent central banking practices. We do not see a significant percentage of Ceo's go to prison for destroying a nations economy because of one thing.

Money ( even if it has no value )

Money seems to overcome justice is what i find absolutely unacceptable. Money should not give anyone a free pass. Money in America has more free speech then the citizens which is by current establishment perfectly fine which is a moral twisted mindset. Money should have no place in Elected Public Office for any position. Just because someone has the most money does that mean what they say or who they are is better then any one of any person on this world.

I disagree with your first part because if you look to the founding of our nation our founding fathers and yes there was freemen as well fought a empire because they were not represented fairly.

Your second part absolutely right and this would create jobs that is not a prison if we had representatives representing us properly to implement these actions in the house through the senate and get a presidential signature.

Huff Post article I'm already outraged !

There has been an organization in existence for well over two decades named LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

Check them out.

Read a bit about them, pretty interesting group, with some ideals that I could see people getting behind. But one aspect listed in their "why legalize drugs" section seems a bit out there.


Too early in the morning to think/look for examples, but what would be the harm in just letting it, in a sense, run wild? Let anyone who wants to produce drugs have at it, it'd create a free market without risk of prosecution or enforcement. Nothing to back up that violence and other criminal acts wouldn't still exist within the trade, but I don't quite see the point (beyond monetary gain for the government/corporations that are given the right to produce and distribute) in legally supplying it.

I guess I'm saying IMO, there's a whole different boundary between "do what you want, it's your body" and "do what you want, it's your body, but buy from us!"

Some solid points for any naysayers to removing the prohibition on drugs though on their page. Also a fair amount of lack of foresight as well, though. Can just look at cigarettes as an example of how easy such a system could be taken advantage of in order for youths to get their hands on the substances.

Quite frankly, there is a non-zero population that have no issue with causing harm to others in order to make (more) money.

Basically the same principal behind regulation in most industries: to protect the consumer. Now, whether or not that principal has been corrupted over time is a different discussion.
*edit- hate sw touchpad keyboards

I can get behind legalizing and regulating prostitution and drugs, as long as they also write in some tax breaks for the working class while they're at it.

nevada wants a word with you jetackuu about prostitution,lol

yes, heaven forbid people actually don't break the law. how hard is it to do what you are supposed to do?

this whole mentality that people should be able to do whatever they want and not have to deal with the consequences of their actions is ***.

but for those advocating changing the law... then so be it. but no leniency if the drug users harm another person. if you are on drugs and end up killing someone, you should get 25 to life or w/e it is for murder.

The drugs that result in those scenarios are outside the scope of what most people support. They are drugs like PCP, Meth, salts, etc. All of which are manufactured pharmaceuticals, and would likely continue to be illegal or, at the very least, subject to the same testing and regulation as any manufactured drug, and would likely require prescriptions.

I would hope we've moved past the "reefer madness" erroneous ideas about pot in the last hundred years, and any intoxicant would still be unlawful to pair with operating a motor vehicle.

If the laws are unjust, they should be broken. Abolished. Trampled. See: 'The Real World' for examples.

I'm for drug legalization but even I worry about what would happen in a world where certain drugs took hold. But I guess that wouldn't be very different from now.

i wasn't referring to reefer madness. i was referring to both drugs that make people lose control of themselves, but also as you mentioned the use of heavy machinery. the thing though about drugs, some remain in the system well after the initial effect and people can get a secondary effect later on.

If we follow the free marketeers: The hard drugs would become undesirable by sheer ability to devastate your life, leaving the more recreational drugs to coalesce and thrive in the market.

You aren't going to be doing dope very long if you enjoy maintaining a stable life in the same vein that certain proof alcohol is all but off limits for most casual drinkers.

Firstly, what drugs are you referring to as ones that make people "lose control of themselves"? And, secondly, what drugs are you referring to as having delayed impairment and how delayed?

Either we're not speaking the same language, or you're being purposely vague.

you already mentioned some of them that make people go nuts... like PCP, meth, etc.

as for delayed impairment it is dependent on a variety of factors to include the drug itself, the quantity taken, and the person's body characteristics. For instance, people have been known to have flashbacks of the drug LSD.

There are plenty of pharaceuticals that have similar effects, and if those drugs were decriminalized, they would fall under the same FDA regulation as other manufactured drugs.

I can only support this if certain drugs stay banned. PCP, Meth, Bath Salts, Lean, anything that can severely damage your body to the point your teeth are rotting out or can effectively kill you is NOT ok with me being legal.

Marijuana I am ok with, it does less damage than alcohol, I'm also not ok with prescription drug abuse, as it was the reason I lost one of my neighbors in 2009.

Honestly I'm really surprised my friend isn't dead, from the way he liked to pop percs.

or anything else he had his hands on at the time.

That ***just doesn't have the same effect on me.

I just /doze

if by percs you mean percocet, yea i took that once when i had my wisdom teeth pulled. i slept 16 hours straight >.>

I took it too, made me higher than a damn kite after my teeth got pulled...

They devastate lives because they are too expensive and unpredictable in strength.

Imagine a world where a junkie could support his habit without involving my car stereo, where they wouldn't OD unless extremely stupid or suicidal.

What state do you live in? I can buy 180 proof (used to be able to drink it straight too.) PGA, 200 proof, is lab grade and if you open it where there is any humidity at all you have 180 proof almost instantly. I can buy that too, just not at a liquor store.

Also you have no idea what percentage of the medical profession is addicted to hard drugs.