The Feds Can't Catch the Cartels' Cocaine-Filled Submarines: Is the War on Drugs a Waste of Money?

But the day we stop trying, drugs (harmfull) will be avalible to anyone and I mean anyone

Even me? They need to shoot me in the head at close range if they want to save me from the harmful effects of drugs.

Let me clarify, by harmful drugs I mean drug purely used to make you high, or is harmfull to your body and when I say 'anyone'i mean minors. So I dont have a problem with people getting high as long as there is two things, one they are legaly of age and two they keep that stuff behind closed doors and dont endanger others

Ok cool. Thanks

Any drug can be harmful if misused. So, you are saying that alcohol is available to minors then?

No I didnt say that but yes minors can get alcohol, though not easily. Also, pardon me for not being clear enough, by 'harmfull' I mean a drug that was not made (nor has the capability) to help the human body

Cocain is refined for many medical uses but is illegal. Canabis has many medical uses and is the oldest known medicine to be prescribed. On the other hand we have alcohol which has no medicinal use other than as a sterilizing agent when in a purified form, yet history shows that trying to prevent people from having it (the Prohibition Era) only results in a greater increase in crime due to the growth of a black market. The drug war is a war on us and our freedom to choose for ourselves.

After billions spent there has been nothing gained. I guess it is success if you are a DEA agent.

Yea... this is a war we lost!

Time to stop spending money on it.. and make money off of it instead.

LEGALIZE IT!

It has good qualities for making building materials and a lot more.

Submarines I want to know who thought of this

Horace Lawson Hunley, James McClintock, and Baxter Watson.

It's good they are trying to keep dangerous substances out of the hands of kids, but I think they might be better off allowing and regulating certain drugs than trying to eliminate them and prevent them from coming into our country.

It has been proven a waste, crime and farce by notable intellectuals many times.

It is just too profitable for governments to legalize or legislate drugs and marijuana has always been in the wrong category of hard drugs. Like prohibition, this taught us "common" people that laws can be wrong.

LEGALIZE EVERYTHING... I DON'T SEE ME WANTING TO RUN OUT AND DROP SOME LSD CUZ IT'S LEGAL!

IN SOME WAY IT IS AND SOME WAYS ITS NOT ... IT A WASTE WHEN ARE OWN GOVERMENT KNWS EXACTLY WHERE THEY ARE AT BUT DONT DO ANY THING ABOUT IT .. ... WHAT THE HELL WE CAN FIND SADAM IN A DAMM HOLE HALF WAY ACROSS THE DAM GLOBE .. WHY THE HELL CAN'T WE FIND A DAMM DRUG LORD... RIGHT IN ARE OWN BORDER .... IT B.S.

CASH MOVE;S EVERY THING AROUND ME REMEMBER THAT ,, WU-TANG CLAN ...

The problem with any Law Enforcement Agency is just how much do they actually enforce their Laws? . . . There are great Law Enforcement Agencies from local to high-level; and they have access to some very sophisticated equipment, as well; but once criminal is apprehended, LOCK-HIM-UP!! . . . All the criminal ever gets is Probation .. . Throw the Book @ him!!! Fix it to where a worm is around 82 or 83 by the time he is actually released from Prison . . . Then watch the crime drop. Anyone will do something when they know that they can get away with it. Also, fix the Prisons where they are not just a resort for members to receive routine dental check-ups, and eye-exams.

Where do you suggest we put all these prisoners? Our jails are already overcrowded.

I was so impressed by the new court facilities @ 400 McAllister St., San Francisco. . . . Exceptional Jury Facilities . . . Well, I learned that when the architects built it and modeled it the way that they did, they asked the Jury Members, "How can we make your life not so miserable during your short visit here?" Well, that's it. That same kind of ideology can be applied to Prisons, Cells, etc. Of course, it would take a certain degree of oversite to prevent "those employees" from modeling Rock Cocaine Bars, etc. inside the Prison walls . . . . But, anyway, just go ahead and let those Prisoners build their own Prisons. Just provide oversite and put them to work; it's that simple. They might even like it. Some dope addicts might even exclaim; "You know I didn't even know how to drive a nail; and I had no idea that you actually had to mix concrete." But just laying around on Army Bunk Beds; and corn-holing each other until the next meal; is just not going to accomplish much in the name of rehab; and as you stated, putting them 4 to a bed won't help either. I have a great idea; 3-shifts; 1/3 Maintenance & Mess; 1/3 Walking; and 1/3 Sleeping. Change every 8 hours. That way, three Prisoners can sleep in one-bed at different intervals. A Prison that would house 10,000 could actually house 30,000.

Except that'd be against "prisoners' rights". You and I both know it'd never fly. Good idea in theory; bad idea practically.

Yeah, you know what? . . . When it comes to incarceration; the American Justice way = THE MOST COSTLY EXPENSIVE BS EVER!!!! Thanks.

it is nothing more than "a feel good war" to help folks think that they are helping and making a difference kind of like CPS I think theonly way to get them to do their job is to kill a kid

Absolutely. We need to find a better way - eliminate the war - let people make their own choices. Stop funding the war - stop funding the programs to help addicts - prosecute criminals for crime - not drugs

The war on drugs is a war that will never be won unless the are made legal. Let's just keep giving them more and more of our money on a wastefull law. It's funny how the govt. keeps catching less product, more people ard dying from the cartells, and they want more laws and money. Hello this doesn't work

Deregulate or legalize it .... I think you would be surprised just how bad it would hurt and stop cartels !

Just like prohibition, controlling anything that the people want is futile. Even during prohibition there was one bootlegger that was deliverying alcohol to both the House and the Senate.

not only money,resources,plus crowding our prisions , and causing seaths of thousands of innocent people,and the only politiician who wants to end it is gary johnson

no matter what is done smugglers will always find a way around it, they always have and always will.

The war will never be won as long as they refuse to give up on marijuana. Imagine how much resources could be freed up if they just stopped wasting time with a harmless plant like marijuana and went after the real hard drugs.

This is one of those times that a country needs to establish their values and then aggressively pursue them. Saying that we'll sell out our values because it's too hard to enforce them is nonsense.

Which values? The most important value in this country is liberty, or so I thought it was. Are we not constantly fighting to keep the government as far out of our personal lives as possible? How do you justify giving a human being a criminal record for using marijuana...a plant that has no lethal dosage and is used in its natural state without added chemicals? Which values are we enforcing by arresting marijuana users? Which values are we enforcing by throwing drug addicts in prison when they need real help? Which values are we enforcing by allowing pharmaceutical companies to legally sell drugs that are extremely addictive to elderly people and children alike while we bust down the doors of marijuana businesses in states that have legalized it? Aren't states supposed to be free from federal tyranny. Is that not one of the values you speak of. I'm sorry man, by what values do you speak of? The DEA has fought this "war on drugs" by ignoring the constitution and flying in the face of liberty all because we have been indoctrinated by lies to believe that pharmaceutical companies have our best interest in mind and marijuana is an extremely dangerous substance. Get real, Man.

The value to which I am speaking is that we prohibit the use of drugs.

This is really two seperate questions.
1. should drugs be legal?
2. given that drugs are illegal should we work to keep them out of the country?

I'm not debating whether drugs should be legal (my #1), though I recognize you want to. The fact is that drugs are illegal. The truth is that they will likely continue to be illegal.

My point is that given that they are illegal (#2), we need to work diligently to enforce that choice. I think these discussions we get into about how we (through our laws) make something illegal, but then choose to do nothing about it because it's too hard or too expensive is nonsense and sends a crummy message to our kids. i.e. - it's OK to have values, but if they get too tough, don't worry about it.

If you guys really want to make them legal, make the case of why drugs are good for you and get the laws changed.

(edited for grammar).

Fine, but the hypocrisy in all that is that pharmaceutical companies get away with murder....no they LITERALLY get away with murder. There are countless cases of where drugs have gotten the seal of approval from the FDA and have killed people with their side effects. Then the company and FDA say "whoops, better take that one down" but even after the lawsuits a profit on those drugs are still made and there is absolutely 0 accountability. Meanwhile, we spend millions of taxpayer's money lying to our kids that marijuana is a deadly substance and a gateway drug. We throw addicts in jail when they become so addicted (sometimes to prescription medications) that they commit crimes in order to obtain more drugs. It's not the war that is my problem as much as it is the way it's being fought. I would love to live in a country where addiction was treated with respect and people were taken care of. I would love for nobody to use meth ever or heroin. I want that, but this "war on drugs" ain't the answer, Man. This is about making sure people are forced to realize that they have no real freedom and eventually give in to tyranny. That's what's happening.

Again, you're mixing points. Let's separate out the war on drugs from your dislike of the pharmaceutical companies. While there may be a casual connection, they again are separate issues.

The key issue driving the war on drugs is that we have a society that consumes drugs. Fix that problem and there is no need for a war on drugs. Yes, better treatments would be good, but so would more education. Remember - if the drug users never started using, there would be no need for treatment or for a war on drugs. Fix that problem and we're much better off.

BTW - trying to stop the flow of illegal drugs does not mean we live under tyranny. Tyranny is:
"arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority"
Trying to stop drug dealers and traffickers is not a despotic abuse of authority.

(edited for grammar)

What about ignoring the constitution and States rights? Some states have said enough is enough. People have voted and they don't want the government deciding what they can and cannot put in their body. Shouldn't that count for anything? How narrow minded of you to not see how pharmaceutical companies are very much connected to the so called war on drugs. Do you really believe it's about keeping people off drugs for their own good? You talk about education, but what you are calling education is blatent lies. My best friend was prescribed amphetamine for his depression when we were kids. Meanwhile we're being told that marijuana is dangerous. Why is there no battle being fought against the biggest and most dangerous drug dealers of them all? Why do pharmaceutical companies indirectly commit murder every day and go home to mansions while some people can't even get decent jobs because when they were younger they sold some weed and have a criminal record for it. I promise you their product never killed a soul. There is no justice and you are delusional if you think I am mixing points because pharma has a HUGE stake in this "war."

It's not solely about keeping people off drugs because it's in their own good.

Drugs continue to be illegal because there is no upside to politicians legalizing drugs. The general population is not supportive of legalization and very few politicians wants to be labeled as being in support of legalization.

The pharmaceutical companies at this point have very little to do with whether drugs are legal or not. In this age politicians are generally not in collusion with companies in the way you suggest. Look after all at what was done to oil drilling in the gulf or what is being done to the health care companies. Politicians will throw companies under the bus in a minute if it helps them to get re-elected.

Part of the reason that the population is not in favor of legalization is that those in favor of it end up coming up with all these weird arguments like - drugs are illegal because of pharmaceutical companies and the tyranny of the federal government. All it does is underscore the stereotype of the legalization crowed as a bunch of pot heads sitting around a bong in their parents basement.